Dec 5, 2022 - Economy & Business

GameStop begins layoff

Illustration of a video game controller with an absurd number of buttons.  

Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios

A round of layoffs have begun at GameStop, the company at the center of 2021's meme stock craze, according to a source familiar with the matter and multiple LinkedIn posts from people claiming to be impacted.

Details: One source within the company tells Axios that the team building GameStop's blockchain wallet was heavily impacted.

  • Subsequently, at least six software engineers have claimed on LinkedIn to have been let go.
  • Axios has been unable to confirm the approximate scale of the layoff.
  • GameStop has not replied to multiple requests for comment from Axios.

What they're saying: A software engineer at GameStop posted on LinkedIn: "Another big round of layoffs from GameStop currently in progress... E-commerce Product and Engineers... Lots of them."

  • A second GameStop software engineer wrote, "Super sad to say I was apart of the layoffs today at GameStop."
  • Another posted on Twitter about being let go, but under a pseudonym.

By the numbers: GameStop's stock is trading above $25, more than 500% above its price going into 2021's reddit-powered boom.

Flashback: GameStop also announced a round of layoffs after sacking its CFO in July.

What we're watching: GameStop's quarterly earnings call is Dec. 7.

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