Amazon cuts jobs in games unit, part of broader restructuring

By Greg Bensinger

(Reuters) -Amazon.com has cut around 180 jobs in its games division, at least the second round of cuts in under a week, as part of a broader restructuring, according to an email viewed on Monday by Reuters.

“After our initial restructuring in April, it became clear that we needed to focus our resources even more on the areas that are growing with the highest potential to drive our business forward,” according to the email dated Nov. 13 from Christoph Hartmann, vice president of Amazon (NASDAQ:) Games.

The company began informing employees Monday morning that their roles had been eliminated. It represents the second cut to the division this year.

Amazon last week also began cutting jobs in its streaming music and podcast division, according to people familiar with the matter. It also cut a very small number of jobs in its human resources unit known as People Experience and Technology, or PXT, according to the sources.

The games division offers free streaming versions of many video games like Doom and Roblox, as well as some Twitch channels. The company is focusing on free games known as Prime Gaming, offered as a perk within the $139 annual Prime membership that also includes free shipping and free streaming video, Hartmann said.

“We’ve listened to our customers and we know delivering free games every month is what they want most, so we are refining our Prime benefit to increase our focus there,” he said.

In April, Amazon cut about 100 jobs in the games unit.