Twitch insiders fear mass layoffs as Amazon loses billions on “zombie brand”

Twitch staff are worried that the streaming platform will have another round of layoffs as the company continues to lose money.

New reports about Twitch’s financial failings are leaving employees and insiders on edge, fearing more layoffs even after the Amazon-owned streaming site fired hundreds of staff and raised the price of subs.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Twitch’s biggest spenders are putting less money towards the platform and fewer users are joining the site, stoking fears that engagement has slowed to a crawl.

Twitch is also reportedly losing money on annual revenue of $2 billion. This comes ten years after Amazon bought the company in 2014 for nearly $1B.

As such, staff are reportedly worried that come the fall, Twitch will announce another series of layoffs following its annual operation review. In January 2024, the site let 500 workers go, amounting to 35% of the company’s total workforce.

Insiders are also concerned that Twitch is becoming a “zombie brand” at Amazon, noting that multiple projects have been shelved for not performing as well as they had hoped. The staff compared Twitch to book review app Goodreads and online discount store Woot.

Amid this controversy, staff have taken aim at Twitch CEO Dan Clancy as he travels the globe having dinner with streamers as the site loses money.

Clancy justified his trips saying, “If I was running a manufacturing company, I would be meeting with the companies that provided us raw materials, as well as the companies that we sold our widgets to. Our streamers serve a similar role to Twitch.”