UPDATE: AppLovin has laid off over 120 staff this month, according to California’s public Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) system.
The records state that AppLovin laid off 65 staff on October 3, and another 58 employees on October 15.
We’re told by a source close to the layoffs that the more recent staff cuts were linked to the cancellation of a game that was at the R&D stage.
But there’s other speculation swirling around the layoffs. Another source with knowledge of the matter suggested that AppLovin’s entire product team has been eliminated, and ongoing management of its remaining games, Game of War and Mobile Strike, will now fall on engineering.
Our source also suggested this move has come after a failed bid to sell off those games. AppLovin declined to comment on the speculation or the layoffs.
ORIGINAL STORY, POSTED 23/10/24: An unknown number of staff at AppLovin and Game of War maker Machine Zone have been let go, according to multiple LinkedIn posts.
Several former staff on the professional network have said that a restructure was announced last week. This follows the closure of Final Fantasy XV: War For Eos, which was announced earlier this month.
Among the most high profile departures is Machine Zone’s product VP, who said that he and his entire team were laid off, listing seven engineers and other developers now looking for work.
Elsewhere on LinkedIn, it appears AppLovin and Machine Zone staff in content production, product support, design and animation were also affected. We have asked AppLovin for comment, but the company has not replied. We will update this story with any more information if or when we get it.
AppLovin acquired Game of War and Mobile Strike maker Machine Zone in 2020 for an undisclosed fee, and announced it would be closing Final Fantasy XV: War for Eos earlier this month. A quick look at Appmagic’s estimated revenue figures for its other major titles suggests they may be in trouble, too.
As above, Game of War’s spectacular earnings from 2014-2016 dropped off dramatically in 2017. Monthly earnings (minus Apple and Google’s 30%) peaked in November 2015, when Game of War earned an estimated $69m. But last month, Appmagic estimates revenue of under $400k.
A quick look at Mobile Strike’s estimated revenue tells the same story. Helped by some high profile ads starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the game was hitting around $60m in monthly revenue at its peak in 2016. But a similar drop-off occurred in 2017, and last month the game generated an estimated $620k.
The last posts made on Game of War and Mobile Strike’s X, Facebook and Instagram feeds were made in April 2022. On the App Store, both games have not been updated since January, while on Google Play both games were last updated in March.
