“Roadmapping for our future”
The news comes fromreader-fundededitorial websiteAftermath, which was recently founded by a number of seasoned journalists, including former RPS staff writer Nathan Grayson. Amazon themselves have now confirmed Aftermath’s report and shared an internal email to staff about the layoffs.
“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,” Amazon Games VP Cristoph Hartmann wrote in the email. “With these changes in our business approach come changes to our resourcing, resulting in the elimination of just over 180 roles.”
“I know this is difficult news and that the impact will be felt widely,” Hartmann went on in the email to staff (published in full byThe Verge). “It never feels good to say goodbye to colleagues. This isn’t a decision the leadership team came to quickly; it was the result of extensive considerations and road mapping for our future.
“We are proud of the work the teams have been doing, pushing into new areas with weekly content on Crown Channel, and finding more ways to help publishers reach new audiences with Game Growth. But after further evaluation of our businesses, it became clear that we need focus our resources and efforts to deliver great games to players now and in the future.”
As Nathan notes in the Aftermath piece, Hartmann’s defence of the latest cuts seems a bit rich given that, post-pandemic macroeconomics notwithstanding,Amazon as a whole have recently announced vast profits, with revenue jumping by 13 per cent to $143.1 billion in the three months up to 30 September.
