Amazon Games Cuts 180 Jobs Amid Refocus on Development and Publishing

Amazon has made a second round of layoffs in its games division as part of a broader restructuring effort.

The elimination of 180 jobs in the games division marks the second time in a week that the online retailer and digital streaming provider has reduced its workforce, and the second time this year it has done so in its games division, Reuters reported Monday (Nov. 13), citing a company email it had seen.

In a copy of the email provided to PYMNTS by Amazon, Christoph Hartmann, vice president of Amazon Games, said that he and the leadership team have decided to close two Amazon Games initiatives — Crown Channel and Game Growth — and refocus its efforts for Prime Gaming.

“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,” Hartmann said in the email. “With these changes in our business approach come changes to our resourcing, resulting in the elimination of just over 180 roles.”

The move follows Amazon Games’ initial restructuring in April and its continuing review of experiments to determine what gamers want most, Hartmann said.

Moving forward, Amazon’s internal studios are hiring as they develop new intellectual property (IP) and Prime Gaming continues to secure deals and deliver content every month, he added.

“We are committed to our vision of becoming one of the leading developers and publishers of high-quality games, and focusing our resources accordingly will help us get there,” Hartmann said in the email.

During the initial restructuring of Amazon Games in April, the company laid off more than 100 employees in the division and reassigned some others. Those cuts include roles across Prime Gaming, Game Growth and the San Diego studio, and were part of a move to align resources to support a focus on content.

The division’s latest move comes about five days after it was reported that Amazon was cutting jobs in its music division, including its audio streaming platform and digital storefront for songs.

These job cuts were separate from Amazon’s previous round of layoffs that began last year and affected 27,000 positions across the company.