Amazon-owned social media platform Twitch will reportedly announce that it will lay off 500 employees, or 35% of its workforce.
Twitch, which was acquired by Amazon for $970 million in 2014, is a streaming platform for gamers that has accumulated 140 million monthly active users.
Twitch has experienced setback after setback in 2023, according to a report by Bloomberg.
On top of two rounds of layoffs that cut about 400 staff members, Twitch shut down its operations in South Korea due to high operating costs.
"Twitch has been operating in Korea at a significant loss, and unfortunately, there is no pathway forward for our business to run more sustainably in that country," Twitch CEO Dan Clancy explained at the time.
To cap it off, 2023 ended with some of Twitch's leaders such as its chief product officer, customer officer, revenue officer and content officer leaving the company.
Almost 10 years after Amazon’s acquisition, Twitch is struggling to become profitable despite a move to increase advertising.
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Twitch Isn’t Ready To Give Up Yet
Despite these setbacks, it seems that Twitch isn't ready to throw in the towel anytime soon.
Clancy, who became CEO in March 2023, has been on a nationwide campaign to rebuild connections with gaming celebrities who stream on Twitch.
Numerous streamers have voiced out their discontent with Twitch's initial ad policy over the years.
Clancy's proactive approach to addressing their concerns has garnered praise from streamers, marking a positive shift after years of complaints about the platform’s dissonance from its user base.
On January 8, Twitch announced that it is working with NVIDIA and OBS to be able to offer Enhanced Broadcasting to all of its users in the coming months.
This means better visuals at a lower bandwidth and more control for its users.
