Amazon cut more than 180 jobs in its gaming division and at Twitch as it looks to refocus on big franchise such as Tomb Raider and The Lord of the Rings games, according to various reports. The reports say the company will also prioritize Prime Gaming, which offers free games to Prime subscribers.
The cuts represent the second cut to the division this year, and comes after the company cut jobs in its streaming music and podcast division, according to Reuters.
The cuts are just the latest layoffs for Amazon, which carried out the largest job cuts in its history, cutting 27,000 jobs since last fall. The effects have been felt all over the company, with the devices business, responsible for the Echo speakers, taking a large brunt of the terminations. The cost cuts helped propel Amazon to a profit of $9.9 billion in the third quarter.
Amazon will close its Game Growth and Crown Channel initiatives as part of the restructuring, CNBC reported. Crown Channel was Amazon’s Twitch channel, representing the retail giant’s attempt to have a presence in the game-streaming platform. Video game site Aftermath noted that despite putting on elaborate events and tapping streaming stars, it never really found an audience. Game Growth, meanwhile, was the part of the games team focused on helping game creators promote their products and reach new audiences.
In addition to the two large franchises, CNBC reported that Amazon will also focus on upcoming launches including MMORPG game Throne and Liberty and action RPG game Blue Protocol, both free-to-play games.
Both reports cited Christoph Hartmann, vice president of Amazon Games, saying the company needs to refocus its resources to areas with the highest potential, which appear to be free-to-play games.
A spokesman for Amazon wasn’t immediately available for comment.