Playtika lays off over 600 employees and closes three mobile games
Playtika has carried out a new round of layoffs, the second one this year. The Israeli mobile publisher is now cutting 15% of its headcount as part of a broader restructure.
What happened?
As reported by TechCrunch, Playtika laid off 615 out of its 4,100 employees across Europe, Israel, and the US.
This is a result of the company’s decision to shut down three games:
- Merge / strategy battler Merge Stories — $850k in lifetime revenue and 987k downloads (via AppMagic);
- Farming sim Dice Life — $59k in revenue and 111k downloads;
- Hidden object title Ghost Detective — $52k in revenue and 399k downloads.
The developer of the first two games on the list is Jelly Button Games, an Israeli mobile studio acquired by Playtika in 2017. Ghost Detective is made by German developer Wooga that Playtika acquired in 2018.
The company didn’t specify the reasons behind this decision. However, these titles probably didn’t meet the expactations of a publisher known for operating popular social casino games. And these three projects stand out from the pipeline of its core products.
What is known about Playtika’s restructure?
Playtika CEO Robert Antokol said in an email to staff that the company’s planned restructure includes balancing teams, redeploying talent, closing non-core initiatives, and consolidating some of its in-house studios (via MobileGamer.biz).
This should help the publisher focus on “strategic high-growth potential new games investments.” Wooga will also be responsible for “evaluation of new game concepts.”
“We believe the structure announced today further leverages our core strengths of delivering superior in-game experiences and scaling mobile games to global franchises in continuation of growth,” Antokol told TechCrunch.
Earlier this year, Playtika laid off 250 employees, shutting down development centers in London and Montreal. In October, it also closed Seriously, the Helsinki-based studio behind Best Fiends — one of the publisher’s biggest hits, with a lifetime revenue of over $430 million.
It is also worth noting that Playtika has lost billions in market value since going public last year. In June 2021, the company debuted on the stock exchange at a valuation of over $11 billion at a per-share price of $27. However, its market cap currently stands at $3.1 billion, with a share price of just $8.61.
