Twitch could be considering another wave of layoffs.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the streaming giant is demonstrating slowing user growth and may be facing further cuts.
If true, the cuts will come alongside layoffs in March 2023, October 2023 and January 2024, during which at least 900 people were let go.
According to the WSJ, parent company Amazon remains concerned about the livestreaming company's profitability. While its revenue isn't public, the WSJ has seen internal documents that suggest it pulled in about $2 billion in advertising and revenue in 2023. Despite this, however, Amazon is “still losing money.”
“Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who takes over in 2021, has led a review of the company's profitability and shown little tolerance for unprofitable businesses,” the WSJ reported.
As a result, Twitch insiders worry that the service could become another “zombie brand” at Amazon, similar to Goodreads, which Amazon acquired in 2013.
An Amazon spokesperson told the WSJ “it has always taken a long-term view of Twitch and noted its ability to attract a harder-to-reach audience. The company said it remains confident in Twitch's potential.” It also highlighted the lack of competition in the live streaming space.
Back in January, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy said: “As with many companies in the technology space, the sizing of our organization is now based on the current scale of our business and conservative forecasts of how we expect to grow in the future.”
Twitch recently confirmed that it is updating its sexual harassment policy, “clarifying our sexual harassment policy and sharing more about a new AutoMod category designed to flag chat messages that may contain sexual harassment.”
The changes follow allegations that prolific streamer Dr Disrespect had “inappropriate” conversations with a minor via the Twitch platform.
Guy “Dr Disrespect” Beahm recently addressed the allegations surrounding his 2020 Twitch ban, confirming that he was banned when Twitch learned he had messaged an underage person in 2017.