Playtika downsizes workforce by 15% with 610 layoffs

Israel-based mobile gaming developer Playtika announced Monday that it is laying off 610 employees worldwide, 15% of its workforce, which accounted for 4,100 people. While the company had expanded its workforce significantly during the pandemic, this year has been marked by downsizing, with a first round of layoffs happening in June, media reports indicate.

The news that the company was planning layoffs was leaked last week and company CEO and Founder Robert Antokol officially informed the employees by email on Monday.

"The news I share with you today is difficult. After intense deliberation, we have decided to reduce our workforce by about 15%, saying goodbye to wonderful and talented colleagues and friends," wrote Antokol.

"This decision has not come easy, yet we think it necessary to best position Playtika for the future. As we assess the current environment and look toward the future, Playtika must return to our roots of excellence through agility, efficiency, creativity, and being obsessed with winning to deliver the most fun forms of mobile entertainment to our players," the executive added, as reported by Calcalist Tech.

The CEO further explained that the company is in need of "redeploying talent, winding down non-core initiatives, and consolidating studios for greater efficiency and a stronger focus on optimization." The evaluation of new game concepts will be centralized through the team at Wooga; and three titles have been removed - MergeStories, DiceLife, and Ghost Detective - from the pipeline with priority toward "strategic high-growth potential new games investments.” 

Playtika's CEO and Founder Robert Antokol

Playtika laid off 250 employees from its offices in Los Angeles, Montreal, and London, earlier this year. Games the company had intended to develop in those offices were canceled, while some of the other activities were transferred to Playtika’s Israel headquarters. 

The company has traditionally been a profitable, cash-rich company, which currently has $600 million in its coffers, a report from the company stated. However, as of late, Playtika has struggled to show year-over-year growth. In the third quarter, year-over-year growth was only 1.87%, while operational expenditure increased and net profit fell to 15%.

The company revealed last week that Joffre Capital, which was set to purchase a 25.5% share in Playtika, pulled out from the deal. In June, the Chinese consortium which currently controls Playtika had agreed on a deal with Joffre Capital at an $8.5 billion company valuation.