Communications service Discord has revealed via an internal memo and an all-hands meeting that it is laying off 17% of its workforce, as reported by The Verge.
According to the internal memo shared by The Verge, cuts will impact 170 people across various departments.
Released in 2015, Discord quickly became a household name in the gaming and esports scene. The instant messaging and VoIP platform also underwent a period of exponential growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the company was valued at $15bn after securing $500m in funding.
Over the years Discord has also taken direct steps into esports and the gaming world by partnering with esports organisations such as Tribe Gaming, however, its physical involvement in the space has been relatively limited.
The company has continued to grow since its launch and now has 150m monthly active users. It is also believed that the company has raised about $1bn (~£785m) in funding.
However, like esports, the state of the tech industry has changed and a familiar trend of cuts has affected many companies in the sector. This also includes Discord which cut 4% of its workforce in August of last year and streaming platform Twitch, which announced over 500 job cuts earlier this month.
CEO of Discord Jason Citron stated in the internal memo that the company’s rapid workforce growth over the last four years had led to inefficiency, which was the ultimate reason for the cuts. According to Citron, Discord’s workforce increased by five times since 2020.
Discord said staff have been offered a “sizable runway as they transition into future employment,” which includes five months of salary (plus an added week for every year employed), five months of benefit continuation, and more.
The full memo can be read on The Verge.
