Sky Mavis is the company behind Axie Infinity, a titan of web3 gaming. It announced that the company was cutting 21% of its workforce in a strategic rather than financially driven shift. Rather, the firm said, it’s sharpening its focus on just the most critical projects as it readies for growth both in 2025 and beyond. The size of the layoffs became clear last week.
Speaking on X (formerly Twitter), Nguyen said while 2023 is a year of “meaningful growth and development”, added that it’s partly to focus on Sky Mavis’s foundational offerings. As the company will be focused on the strength of the Ronin Wallet, Waypoint, Mavis Marketplace, and also the expansion of the Ronin Network, continuing the work on a new Axie Infinity game and the development of its web3 game-publishing capability.
Workforce Transition in the Punishing Industry
The reorganization is part of a broader spate of layoffs within cryptocurrency and blockchain spaces. Even as positive signals such as Bitcoin scaling to new highs and the increased possibility of more clear U.S. crypto regulations encourage market participants, in recent months several industry players have downsized. Kraken let go of 30% of its staff on October 31, meaning 400 people lost jobs at the firm, DYDX cut its workforce by 25% and Consensys chopped its workforce by 20%. Other companies, such as Matter Labs, Polygon, and Moonpay, also jumped into the fray the same year.
Sky Mavis has cut a quarter of its 250 employees, according to reports. The employees are distributed across Singapore headquarters and subsidiaries in Vietnam, Norway, and the United States. It does not mention the actual number of employees.
Focus on Core Growth Areas
In Nguyen’s words, this makes sense, for diversification across too many fronts leads to a dilution of efficiency. Sharp focus is going to help Sky Mavis get stronger in the web3 gaming space. The Ronin Network, which has rallied and enables now a number of developing and building communities forms a core part of this strategy; meanwhile, the continued development of Axie Infinity is aimed at sustaining their attractiveness as the blockchain gaming sector continues to bolt forward on these fast-changing dynamics. This measured approach is in tune with remarks made by the co-founder Aleksander Larsen earlier who had maintained that the ambition was to keep its leading position in a blockchain gaming ecosystem. Sky Mavis has navigated the industry’s tightrope between innovation and operational efficiency.
