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Amazon announced Monday that it will cut more than 180 jobs in its Amazon Games division as it refocuses its efforts on Prime Gaming, according to an internal company memo seen by CNBC.
The company will close its Game Growth and Crown Channel initiatives as part of the restructuring. Now, Amazon will focus on upcoming shows like “Throne and Liberty” and “Blue Protocol,” as well as future ventures like “Tomb Raider” and “The Lord of the Rings” games, Christoph Hartmann , vice president of Amazon Games. , he wrote in the memo to employees.
“I know this is difficult news and the impact will be felt widely,” Hartmann wrote. “It’s never good to say goodbye to colleagues. This is not a decision that the management team came to quickly; it was the result of extensive consideration and road mapping for our time to come.”
Shares of Amazon were down less than 1% on Monday.
Amazon’s latest job cuts come as CEO Andy Jassy has been in cost-cutting mode over the past year as the company has battled high interest rates and inflation. . As a result, Amazon has made the biggest layoffs in its history, cutting 27,000 jobs since last fall. The company also froze corporate hiring, and Jassy has looked to cut unit costs across the company.
In October, Amazon reported third-quarter earnings that suggested cost-cutting has been paying off. The company’s revenue rose 13% to $143.1 billion in the third quarter, and net income more than tripled to $9.9 billion from $2.9 billion a year earlier.
Hartmann wrote that after further evaluating Amazon’s Games business, the company decided it needed to focus its efforts and resources “to deliver great games to players now and in the future, ” according to the memo.
— CNBC’s Annie Palmer contributed to this report.
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