Twitch Faces High-Level Departures Over Culture Clash

New reports have emerged about a troubled company culture at Twitch. Reportedly, the streaming service has seen a major staff exodus across 2021, losing over 300 employees including the chief operating officer, chief content officer, and head of creator development.

As reported by Bloomberg (paywalled), the Amazon-owned service has seen more than 60 employees leave in 2022, bringing that total higher. According to the ex-head of creator development, Marcus “DJ Wheat” Graham, he believes the fault lies with the company's hiring practices, saying many new hires aren't interested in what made Twitch popular.

• Read More: JGOD Claims Call of Duty 2023 Delay Could Harm Warzone

Twitch Faces High-Level Departures Over Culture Clash

Elaborating further, another former employee - who wished to remain anonymous - stated:

"The customer was the content creator. If you’re not passionate about the product, you’re not really looking at it from the customer’s lens. And so you don’t have the same level of empathy."

Twitch issued a response to Bloomberg, which states:

"The common thread for all employees is a drive to serve our community—from staff members who started as streamers themselves to those who integrate themselves into Twitch culture when they start at Twitch. Serving a community as dynamic as Twitch’s means there isn’t always one clear solution or answer, and as a result we have always believed in being experimental and innovative – even when that means launching a bold product or experiment that might have short-term risks, but will ultimately help us build the best possible solution."

Evidently, these are troubled times for the popular streaming service, and we'll keep you informed with further details. Elsewhere, Twitch recently outlined updates to their username policy and yesterday, confirmed it'll take further steps to prevent "harmful misinformation actors."