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Netflix has imposed its second round of layoffs in less than a month, cutting another 300 people from its staff.
“Today we sadly let go of around 300 employees,” a Netflix spokesperson confirmed to dot.LA. “While we continue to invest significantly in the business, we made these adjustments so that our costs are growing in line with our slower revenue growth.”
The latest cuts amount to roughly 3% of Netflix’s workforce, which stood at more than 11,000 people at the end of 2021. The news comes after Variety reported on Monday that the company, which already slashed 150 positions across its organization last month, would be making another comparable round of cuts by the end of this week. Thursday’s staff reductions impact numerous different teams located mostly in the U.S., according to the company.
Netflix has seen its stock price plummet 70% this year—thanks in no small part to a disastrous first-quarter earnings report which revealed that it lost 200,000 subscribers during the period and expects to lose another 2 million in the current second quarter. The streamer has blamed heightened competition, password sharing and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine among the headwinds facing its business.
On Netflix’s quarterly earnings call in April, CFO Spencer Neumann said that the company would look to “protect our operating margins” over the next two years by “pulling back on some of our spend growth across both content and non-content spend.” Netflix began cutting costs a few weeks later—laying off about 25 people in its marketing division, including at its editorial website Tudum.
Netflix could have another round of layoffs as early as this week, according to Variety.
The streaming giant, which has seen its stock price plummet more than 70% this year, already cut 150 positions across its organization in May. The upcoming layoffs could be similar in size, with impacted employees expected to be informed at the end of this week, Variety reported Monday.
Netflix shares have cratered since the streaming platform reported in April that it lost 200,000 subscribers during the first quarter—the first time that the company shed customers in more than a decade—and expects to shed another 2 million subscribers in the current second quarter. The streamer has blamed heightened competition, password sharing and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, among other issues, for the loss in customers.
On Netflix’s first-quarter earnings call, CFO Spencer Neumann said that amid slowing revenue growth, the company will look to “protect our operating margins” over the next two years by “pulling back on some of our spend growth across both content and non-content spend.” Netflix began cutting costs a few weeks later, laying off about 25 people in its marketing division, including at its editorial website Tudum.
Although Netflix is navigating unique problems, it is far from the only tech firm that has slashed staff in recent weeks amid increasingly precarious economic conditions.
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As Netflix continues its foray into gaming, the streaming giant is turning to its popular shows to find ideas for mobile games.
The streaming giant on Friday previewed more than a dozen mobile games or TV shows based on gaming franchises. That included four upcoming titles adapted from Netflix series, such as the crime thriller “La Casa de Papel” (English title: “Money Heist”) and acclaimed limited series “The Queen’s Gambit.”
Some of the gaming adaptations are straightforward: “The Queen’s Gambit Chess” is essentially chess with lots of bells and whistles, letting players take lessons or solve puzzles, compete in online matches or face off against characters from the series. “La Casa de Papel,” meanwhile, is a single-player action-adventure where players crack safes and rob a casino.
But Netflix is trying to gamify reality TV, too. One title in development is “Too Hot To Handle,” inspired by the dating show where contestants win $100,000 by not having sex with each other. Details on gameplay were light: per Netflix’s description, players “meet and mingle with a whole new cast of sexy singles.”
Another game in development is “Nailed It: Baking Bash,” a “physics based baking game” that’s a riff off the Nicole Byers-hosted game show where amateur bakers compete for “least terrible” cake.
The streaming service has previously offered mobile titles using its own intellectual property, such as a “Stranger Things” role-playing adventure game. In addition, the company has released a mobile title called “Exploding Kittens - The Game,” based on the popular card sets, which Netflix is also adapting into a series.
The cross pollination strategy could boost engagement on Netflix’s platform, luring fans of shows to its games and vice versa. The company is trying all sorts of ideas to turnaround its sluggish growth.
Netflix is trying to appeal to hard-core gamers, too. As part of Friday’s “Geeked Week” presentation—when the company hypes its upcoming content slate—Netflix unveiled “Tekken: Bloodline,” an animated series inspired by the classic fighting game franchise, as well as new clips from “Sonic Prime,” a forthcoming show for the iconic Sonic the Hedgehog.
Much of the new games and shows are set to roll out later this year and in 2023, according to Netflix. All told, the company currently has 22 mobile titles under its belt since it started buying gaming studios and launched its first game in November—part of its play to hang onto consumers after losing subscribers for the first time in a decade last quarter.
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