Machinima Lays Off 22 Employees As Part Of “Strategic Plan”

For the second time in nine months, Machinima is axing a significant portion of its employees. After laying off almost 20 workers last December, Machinima has once again shortened its roster by firing 22 employees in order to “[make] an increased commitment to premium programming, its’ YouTube affiliate network, and multi-platform distribution.”

The round of layoffs comes during a time of expansion for Machinima. Over the summer, the company’s higher-ups have expressed a desire to secure one of the largest funding rounds in YouTube multi-channel network history, which they would use to launch a paid subscription platform off of YouTube. The layoffs will let Machinima focus more manpower towards those goals.

A quick search of Twitter gives us a few names of laid off Machinima employees. Anthony Rogers, whose work as Machinima Respawn‘s Programming Manager helped that channel exceed one billion views, has lost his job, as has noted Counter Strike gamer and Respawn Producer Scott Fisher.

Here is Machinima’s statement on the layoffs:

“In connection with Machinima’s growth plan, the company is making an increased commitment to premium programming, its’ YouTube affiliate network, and multi-platform distribution.  As a result of an increased need for investment in these areas, Machinima is eliminating positions representing approximately 10% of the company’s workforce equating to 22 of 206 employees.  Over the next several months, Machinima will announce new programming and distribution initiatives that will advance the next phase of this strategic plan.”

It’s worth noting that this is a similar justification to the one Machinima gave after its last round of firings. Since then, more than 20 new employees have been hired, so Machinima does indeed seem to be streamlining in the way it suggests.

Machinima wallpaper by Deviantart user ~Clutchsky