North American esports and gaming organisation 100 Thieves has undergone a round of layoffs and internal restructuring to refocus on its core business.
100 Thieves President John Robinson shared via X that the aim is to “do less, better”. As a result, the organisation has spun off its energy drink brand Juvee and 100 Thieves Game Development studio and laid off a portion of its staff.
The North American esports and gaming organisation underwent a period of steady growth between 2020 and 2022, with the company making several large moves in the gaming space while diversifying its operations.
Most notable of the company’s ventures were acquiring peripherals brand Higround, creating a game development studio, and launching an energy drink brand called Juvee.
However, as the state of the esports industry has changed, running several high-cost ventures at the same time has proven to be difficult for the organisation.
100 Thieves has now undergone a round of layoffs that includes its Esports Content Lead, Andrew White, and Head of Social Strategy, Micah Kulish, among a large number of other employees. The total amount of people laid off was not disclosed, but Robinson told The Verge that around 20% of its staff has been laid off.
Previously, 100 Thieves made several rounds of cuts and layoffs, with this being the third major layoff round happening in two years. Members of its content team were laid off in July 2022, and another round happened in January 2023.
100 Thieves raised $35m in 2019 and $60m in 2021. Speaking in a press release about the 2021 funding, Matthew ‘Nadeshot’ Haag, the Founder and CEO of 100 Thieves, said: “100 Thieves now has the capital to launch and acquire new companies that I know our community will love.”
The company’s President and COO John Robinson recently took to X to explain the situation, stating that the growth of the 100 Thieves business simply did not keep pace with the growth of the organisation, and the company simply “cannot afford as large of an organisation as before.”
As a result, both the Juvee and Game Dev sections of 100 Thieves will become independent separate companies. It is unclear what the future will have in store for these two ventures, but they will continue working as independent entities in the future, 100T said.
Robinson shared the following on X, concluding his thoughts on the matter: “We don’t have all the answers today, this is just the beginning of a new chapter. But these changes will help 100 Thieves become a healthier company and ensure that we’re focusing our money and attention on the most important part of our business – the core.”
