Game streaming platform Loco lays off 40 employees

Game streaming platform Loco has laid off around 36% of its 110 workforce, impacting 40 employees.

The company announced the layoffs during a town hall meeting with employees on Wednesday, according to an ET report. Loco founders Anirudh Pandita and Ashwin Suresh told employees that the layoffs are part of the firm’s restructuring strategy, as per the report.

Loco is backed by investors like South Korean gaming giant Krafton and Indian gaming-focused venture firm Lumikai.

The company features popular games like Clash of Clans, FreeFire and Call of Duty Mobile besides hosting top esports teams and tournaments. The platform houses esports teams like Godlike, XO, Revenant Esports, 8bit, Global Esports, 7Sea esports, Skylightz Gaming and Hyderabad Hydras.

Loco was created as an independent entity from its parent Pocket Aces in 2018. Pocket Aces’ founders Pandita and Suresh lead Loco while its co-founder Aditi Shrivastava led the former company.

Loco has raised more than $50 million including a $41 million Series A round led by Hashed in March last year. The Mumbai-based startup was valued at around $200 million during the last round.

Layoffs across gaming startups has become prominent after the government’s decision to impose 28% GST on online real money games. As of now, Indian startups have seen more than 500 layoffs across MPL, Spartan Poker and Hike Rush while few including Fantok, One World Nation (OWN) and Quizy shut their operations.