Gamurs Group, owner of major publications including Dot Esports, Destructoid, and Twinfinite, has apparently cut several jobs without warning.
Many affected workers shared the news on X, saying the news came in a generic email that some received in the middle of the night.
Former Tom Hopkins, Editor-in-Chief of Twinfinite said the email was waiting in their inbox when they woke up. Andrew Highton, author of the Dot Esports guide corroborated the news and claimed to be one of “many” people laid off by the company.
Highlighting the abrupt nature of the cuts, Destructoid staffer Jamie Sharp said the abrupt conclusion left them “completely devastated.”
“I received an email announcing that Gamurs Group had terminated my employment at Destructoid, effective immediately, after just under four years as an editor. Two weeks before the birth of my third child,” they added.
Dot Esports games editor Vic Hood noted that they were fired “immediately” and seemingly without warning. “I woke up to an email informing me that I had been fired from Dot Esports and Gamurs this morning effective immediately. I just bought a house and am getting married next year,” they wrote.
Gamurs Group currently has 17 major publications that attract 66 million monthly readers and 144 million monthly article views. These numbers are displayed on the company website, but despite this apparent success there have been reports of unrest within the company.
Earlier this year, Aftermath has published an extensive report in which employees described working for the company as “hell,” with shifting editorial strategies allegedly leading to rampant burnout and retention issues.
“Everyone is stressed. Colleagues are randomly cut for 'performance issues' week after week across all sites. The articles are all nonsense. The only thing that matters is Google and what Google readers want. Creating a work-life balance? Impossible,” said a former Gamurs employee, speaking to Aftermath in March.
“Corporate is breathing down everyone's neck to make sure every single writer is writing four articles a day. Gamurs is now a race to the bottom where every site is in danger of becoming an SEO content farm. The days of effective reporting are over. Acquired sites are losing all semblance of meaning and brand.”
It's unclear how many people have been affected by the latest round of cuts. Game Developer has reached out to Gamurs Group for more information.