Retail giant Amazon has cut 180 jobs in its games division.

The company confirmed the news to Aftermath, which reports that the firm's Twitch channel, Crown, as well as the Prime Gaming-focused Game Growth Team, were part of the cuts,

In an email to staff, Amazon Games VP Christoph Hartmann (pictured) said that this was not an easy decision and that Prime Gaming was refocusing its efforts.

“We’ve listened to our customers and we know delivering free games every month is what they want most, so we are refining our Prime benefit to increase our focus there. With these changes in our business approach come changes to our resourcing, resulting in the elimination of just over 180 roles,” he wrote.

He continued: “I know this is difficult news and that the impact will be felt widely. It never feels good to say goodbye to colleagues. This isn’t a decision the leadership team came to quickly; it was the result of extensive considerations and road mapping for our future. We are proud of the work the teams have been doing, pushing into new areas with weekly content on Crown Channel, and finding more ways to help publishers reach new audiences with Game Growth. But after further evaluation of our businesses, it became clear that we need focus our resources and efforts to deliver great games to players now and in the future.”

This is the latest in a wave of layoffs across the industry.