In what seems to be yet another sad term in the gaming industry, it seems that Machinima has also announced that they will be reducing their staffing and canceling several popular channels. The network has laid off 13 of it’s 90 employees, according to sources close to the matter, including several part-time staff. Those positions have been dropped due to Machinima cancelling several Youtube channels; Machinima Respawn which is a popular gaming-theme Youtube channel as are several others including Machinima Live and Ten FTW. Reasons for the cancellation are cited as declining popularity, yet as it stands, Machinima Respawn is still one of the more popular channels on Youtube, with over 2 million subscribers.
A spokeswoman for the company confirmed the cuts and issued the following statement. “As Machinima positions itself for the future, we must focus resources toward high-growth opportunities. Toward that end, Machinima released 13 production staff associated with Respawn, TFTW and certain shows on Machinima LIVE as this content was simply not delivering the monetisation that supports our path to profitability. Machinima is in development on its expanded 2015-16 original programming slate, details of which will be unveiled at it Newfront prresentation on May 4. Separately, the company is also has 15 open positions associated with programming, talent development, business intelligence, sales, marketing, product development and engineering”.
Sadly this also all comes after Machinima had secured a $24 million dollar investment from Warner Bros. Entertainment this month, more info on that can be found here.
As one gaming channel to another, we hope everyone who lost their jobs end up finding a new place of employment and get back to doing what they enjoy. Sadly another terrible piece of gaming news and journalism that has been affecting the industry, more than ever it seems.
Source: Varitety
