Twitch Is Losing Money, Says CEO

thegamer.com:

Amazon is losing money on Twitch, according to its CEO. Speaking in a livestream Q&A, Twitch boss Dan Clancy says that the site isn't profitable right now, failing to make money for its parent company, Amazon.

These comments come after Twitch lays off around 500 employees, which is 35 percent of its workforce. Previously, Amazon had already laid off 150 employees from its gaming division, including everyone working for its own Twitch channel, Crown.

"We've implied this before where we say we need to run it sustainably, but I'll be blunt, we aren't profitable at this point," says Clancy, as reported by Eurogamer.

"Amazon has been extremely supportive of Twitch and a big thing for being sustainable over time is ensuring that we don't lose money," he continues. "That's a big part of my job because that's going to be what makes sure we can be here long term."

2023 certainly wasn't a good year for Twitch, and it's been left to workers and service users to bear the brunt of these losses. Last December, the site announced that it would shut down entirely in South Korea, with Twitch saying that operational costs were too high. The shutdown is due to take place on February 27, 2024, from which point, streamers based in Korea won't be able to be part of the partner program and monetise their streams. Viewers in the region also won't be able to make purchases on the website, including subscriptions and donations.

"We've implied this before where we say we need to run it sustainably, but I'll be blunt, we aren't profitable at this point."

Despite the losses and lack of profitability, Twitch is an industry leader in live streaming, often seen as the default platform for hosting live content. Many of the biggest names in the industry