Amazon has announced that it will be laying off over 100 employees from its gaming division. The layoffs will affect employees from Prime Gaming, Game Growth, and Amazon's San Diego studio. The decision was made by Amazon's Games leadership team to support the company's focus on content and internal development efforts.
In a memo to staff, Amazon Games VP Christoph Hartmann said that after evaluating current projects against long-term goals, the company has decided to eliminate just over 100 roles across the three affected areas while reassigning some employees to other projects. He added that Amazon will continue to invest in internal development efforts and that teams will grow as projects progress.
According to a CNBC report, impacted employees were informed about the layoffs during live meetings with human resources. Amazon has promised to support affected employees by offering them severance pay, health insurance benefits, outplacement services, and paid time to conduct their job search.
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The layoffs are part of Amazon's ongoing efforts to restructure and streamline operations, which began with CEO Andy Jassy's announcement that the company would be laying off an additional 9,000 employees to control costs. This comes on top of a previous round of cuts that saw over 18,000 people lose their jobs. The company has also implemented a hiring freeze for its corporate workforce and discontinued some experimental projects.
Amazon's Gaming venture began in 2013 with the launch of Amazon Games. However, in recent years the gaming department has struggled to produce a hit despite publishing several projects and attracting top talent from companies like Sony Online Entertainment. In 2020, Amazon released its first big-budget game, Crucible, but canceled the free-to-play shooter within a few months. A year later, Amazon released the PC game New World, which enjoyed some early success. The company sought to capitalize on this by launching the online action role-playing game Lost Ark in February.
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Amazon's video games division has also seen some turnover among its top ranks. Mike Frazzini, who helped launch Amazon's game studios, stepped down in March. In January, John Smedley, who headed up Amazon Games' San Diego studio, left the company.
The layoffs in Amazon's gaming division are part of cost-cutting and restructuring efforts. In the memo, Hartmann assured employees that Amazon will "double down on the pre-production phase" of the game. Additionally, Amazon's studio in Montreal, also working on an unannounced project, will continue to expand.