Continuing the unfortunate trends of 2023, Twitch announces more layoffs, leaving many wondering about the industry’s future…

In an unfortunate announcement for many employees, livestreaming giant Twitch has announced more layoffs. They have to lay off quite a few, roughly 500 employees. The company cited “cost reduction” as the primary reason for the continuous downsizing. As well as shutting down completely in South Korea to cut corporate spending. The layoffs continue a trend of corporate downsizing and studio closings that have plagued the industry in 2023.

Acquired by Amazon in 2014, Twitch is a livestreaming service that allows users to broadcast a variety of content, including video games, crafts, cooking, podcasts, ASMR, and more.

The platform played a leading role in the livestreaming space. Various competitors have emerged in the past decade. While many still prefer the platform for content creation and consumption, the continued layoffs have left many weary about the future of Twitch and livestreaming.

Dan Clancy, the CEO of Twitch, revealed in an official blog post that the livestreaming company plans to cut another 500 employees. Clancy, like other company executives in recent months, has cited efficiency and sustainability as reasons for the layoffs. Chris Cocks made a similar statement last year in connection with the mass layoffs at Hasbro. At that time, Cocks emphasized that in order to be successful, it was necessary to “lean”. The audience questioned how necessary these industry layoffs were. Many companies in the field of game and content creation have boasted record profits in recent years.

It’s not just Twitch: 2024 to continue 2023 cost-cutting trends

Twitch and Hasbro aren’t the only major companies that have resorted to layoffs to cut costs. Last year, there was a record number of layoffs in the industry. Several AAA studios and indie developers lost hundreds of employees.

Some of the most notable companies to announce significant layoffs last year include Ubisoft, Embracer Group, Bungie, Microsoft, Amazon Gaming, Epic Games, and many others.

At Twitch, layoffs only affect company employees. However, many streamers and viewers worry that the cuts will have a larger impact on the livestreaming service as a whole. Whether this turns out to be true is not yet known. However, many users are already looking for alternative platforms to keep themselves safe.

Just two weeks into 2024, the video game industry continues to face the unfortunate layoff trends of 2023. Unity just announced another round of layoffs. The latest round of layoffs at Twitch shocked employees and fans alike. As more companies and studios continue to show rising profits, many wonder when the cost-cutting layoffs will end…

Source: Blog.twitch.tv