tl;dr
Sky Mavis, the developer of Axie Infinity, has announced a 21% reduction in its global workforce, affecting around 50 employees out of 250. The move is part of a restructuring plan to prioritize core products and long-term goals. The company's co-founder emphasized that the decision is strategic and...
Sky Mavis, the developer of Axie Infinity, has announced a 21% reduction in its global workforce, affecting around 50 employees out of 250. The move is part of a restructuring plan to prioritize core products and long-term goals. The company's co-founder emphasized that the decision is strategic and not driven by financial pressures, aiming to position Sky Mavis for future growth amidst evolving industry trends and recent crypto-friendly policies. Despite challenges, including security breaches and a decline in the play-to-earn trend, the company remains focused on innovation and broader Web3 gaming projects. Founded in 2018, Sky Mavis gained global recognition with Axie Infinity, a pioneer in the play-to-earn (P2E) gaming space. It became particularly popular during the pandemic, offering users a way to earn income through gameplay. To support Axie Infinity, the company developed its blockchain, Ronin. In the announcement, Trung described the protocol as one of the most utilized blockchains globally, boasting over 1.1 million daily active addresses and over 10 million downloads of its Ronin Wallet app. Despite its success, Sky Mavis has faced significant challenges, including the relative decline of the P2E trend and the 2022 hack of the Ronin bridge, which resulted in a $615 million loss in cryptocurrency. In response, the company introduced a free-to-play version of Axie Infinity and pivoted Ronin into a platform for broader Web3 gaming projects. More recently, the protocol experienced its second hack in nearly two years, with the attackers stealing over $11 million from it. Shortly after the incident, Aleksander Leonard Larsen, co-founder, and COO of Sky Mavis, revealed that their team had suspended its operations to investigate a report from white hat hackers regarding a possible MEV exploit.