The year 2024 is off to a very bad start in the technology sector, especially video game-related companies. After the Unity and Twitch groups, Discord announces a restructuring plan. The platform is laying off 17% of its workforce. Almost 2,500 jobs have been lost since the beginning of the year.
Published on: January 13, 2024 – 9:52 p.m
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“We have grown quickly and expanded our workforce even faster. » This is how the dismissals are justified by Discord management. The company nicknamed the “Cat of Gamers” is laying off 170 employees due to poorly managed growth. With 150 million users, this online chat service was worth $15 billion in 2021, but is still not profitable. Discord separated 4% of its workforce in August 2023. The reason is a lack of subscriptions to the group's paid service. This restructuring is just the continuation of a long series in the industry.
This week, for example, streaming platform Twitch, best known for broadcasting esports competitions and video game-related content, cut 500 jobs. The company is also failing to attract enough paying users, while parent company Amazon has launched its largest job cuts campaign in 2023, expected to reach 27,000 jobs across the company.
New exit plan at Unity, the pillar of the video game industry
Unity, an American company behind one of the two main video game engines, also announced an exit plan. This is important because it affects almost 25% of the workforce, or almost 1,800 employees. “This decision was not taken lightly,” assures the company, which is facing its fourth exit plan in a year.
Another group could follow: the Israeli Playtika, which specializes in mobile simulations and poker games. According to the Ctech website, the company could lay off almost 400 employees, while the group has stepped up acquisitions of several of its competitors in recent years.
Since the beginning of 2024, more than 2,500 jobs have been lost in the industry.
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