Twitch, the popular live streaming platform owned by Amazon, announced on Monday that it will lay off just over 400 people as part of a new round of layoffs at its parent company. According to Twitch CEO Dan Clancy, the layoffs were necessary due to the current macroeconomic environment and slower than expected growth in user and revenue.
Clancy, who had been CEO for only four days following the resignation of Emmett Shear on March 16, explained the difficult decision to shrink the size of their workforce in a blog post on Twitch’s website.
The layoffs come as Amazon announced on Monday that it would cut an additional 9,000 jobs, highlighting the company’s ongoing restructuring efforts.
While Twitch saw a significant increase in viewership during the 2020 COVID lockdown, the platform has faced increasing competition from Facebook, YouTube, and other forms of entertainment, as well as legislative challenges from legacy media.
Despite this competition, Twitch remains the dominant live streaming platform by a significant margin, producing 91% of the livestreaming content in the space at its height.
While the layoffs are a setback for Twitch and Amazon, it is clear that the company is taking steps to streamline its operations and remain competitive in a rapidly changing digital landscape. As Twitch and other companies continue to adapt to these changes, it will be interesting to see how the live streaming market evolves and what new challenges and opportunities arise.
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