I was on the phone this evening with a publicist (who I won’t name) about a story I’m chasing down and they basically said—and I’m paraphrasing here: “You’re like the harbinger of doom with all of these stories about layoffs.” I can’t say that I disagree completely because I kind of feel that way this week.
In esports, I’ve reported on layoffs at eUnited, 100 Thieves, Nerd Street Gamers, and—most recently—Team Liquid. In the gaming industry, Unity and Microsoft made fairly substantial cuts this week and games media took a big hit with layoffs at Vox Media, GameSpot, and Giant Bomb. Elsewhere Google cut 12,000 jobs on Friday.
Sadly, things aren’t going to get better anytime soon, and as I’ve said elsewhere I take no joy in reporting on any of this stuff; this is the job I signed on to do and I have to do it no matter where it leads. After all, we wrote all the positive stories when these companies were signing lucrative deals with crypto and gambling companies and luxury brands, and raising ten of millions of dollars from VCs looking to ride the next big trend: esports.
But for those that are scared about the bottom completely falling out of the esports industry, take heart: Those that can adjust, reduce costs, and find/improve revenue streams will be here ten years from now when this economy and the correction to the industry is just a distant memory. - James.
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