Twitch to Cut About 35% of Its Workforce Amid Ongoing Losses
Amazon-owned live streaming platform Twitch is preparing to reduce its global headcount by roughly 35 percent, a move that would affect about 500 employees. The development comes amid reports from Bloomberg about the planned layoffs and the company’s persistent financial challenges. The news signals a major restructuring as Twitch seeks to regain a clearer path to profitability after years of heavy spending and rapid growth.
People familiar with the situation say the reductions could be announced within days. The anticipated layoffs align with a broader effort from Twitch to streamline operations, shrink costs, and refocus investments on core services that drive engagement and subscriber revenue. The company has faced mounting losses in recent quarters, even as user engagement remains high in many markets. Senior executives have departed the company over the past several months, contributing to a climate of strategic recalibration and leadership turnover.
One of the principal cost drivers for Twitch is the expense of cloud hosting and storage, given the platform’s vast scale and the roughly 1.8 billion hours of video that are produced monthly. This reliance on cloud infrastructure comes despite Twitch’s integration with Amazon Web Services, a cloud provider that remains the backbone of the service’s delivery. The cost structure has remained a focal point for investors and industry observers as the company weighs longer-term investments against near-term profitability goals.
Despite intensified efforts to monetize through advertising and other channels, Twitch has yet to achieve sustained profitability during its nine-year span under Amazon ownership. A Bloomberg source close to the matter has noted that the path to profitability has proven elusive, prompting strategic reviews and potential cuts as part of a broader attempt to stabilize the business model while preserving user experience and creator incentives.
At press time, Twitch’s public communications team had not offered a formal comment on the scope or timing of any large-scale layoffs, which has led to speculation in the tech press and among industry watchers. The absence of an official statement underscores the sensitivity and fluidity of the situation as the company weighs next steps in its operating plan.
In related context, rumors about previous strategic moves within the broader online content ecosystem have circulated. A separate report suggested that a long-standing broadcaster may have accumulated significant assets in another domain, illustrating the varied fiscal dynamics at play in digital media ecosystems. These developments highlight how platform economics, creator value propositions, and global market considerations interact as Twitch navigates a rapidly evolving landscape.