Reports seem to suggest that Amazon cuts will remove a swathe of jobs from its gaming division, but your next new MMO isn’t under the axe.
If you’re just waking up and checking the news, then welcome to another round of the games industry is horrible to work in. Reports by Aftermath suggest that Amazon is cutting a whole 180 jobs from its gaming division. Sources told the publication that the layoffs will slice through the Crown Channel and the Game Growth team. If you are as bemused as I am about the Crown Gaming concept, that’s the reason why it’s likely getting the chop. Amazon’s attempt to launch a hub for interactive and new content styles on Twitch didn’t gain the sort of traction that would make it a recognisable name among gamers.
The result is that twitch is set on moving its focus to Prime gaming and giving us more free games for our monthly Prime Gaming round up.
“We’ve listened to our customers and we know delivering free games every month is what they want most, so we are refining our Prime benefit to increase our focus there. With these changes in our business approach come changes to our resourcing, resulting in the elimination of just over 180 roles,” wrote Christoph Hartmann, VP of Amazon Games, in the email to employees.
Amazon Games Publishing Unaffected
Don’t worry if you’re just getting hyped for Blue Protocol or jumping back into new World. The Amazon cuts don’t seem to be centered around internal game development or the port of Blue Protocol. Lost Ark will continue to roll out updates, New World will continue to explore Aeternum, and the recent closed test is far from the last you’ve seen of Blue Protocol. This might not be the first or last set of layoffs from one of the world’s biggest companies, but we can only hope everyone impacted manages to find somewhere soon.
