Image: Amazon
Amid a spate of mass layoffs in the tech industry, Amazon’s previously announced intention to shed its workforce by cutting nearly 20,000 jobs began this week — and reports say Comixology, the digital comics store Amazon bought in 2014, is taking a hit.
News of major cuts to Comixology surfaced on social media yesterday afternoon as program manager Scott McGovern confirmed his exit alongside “numerous” others. Anonymous employees who spoke to Polygon claimed that Comixology employees – who are part of Amazon’s Stores division, the division these new layoffs are primarily focused on – have been told some will be laid off starting this week, more on that were informed whether this was to be cut in the coming months or later in 2023.
The true extent of Comixology’s layoffs is unknown, leaving its fate uncertain — especially after a highly controversial overhaul of the platform last year. The changes went well beyond redesigning the app and website for the leading digital comics storefront and included a disastrous integration of the service more tightly with Amazon’s storefronts, shutting down Comixology’s own website. Between mass bugs, sluggish navigation, title findability issues, and the end of a long-running copyright licensing program in favor of using Amazon’s Kindle Direct e-book publishing system, Comixology spent much of the last year apologizing for the litany of issues and trying to fix them , an ongoing process.
Or at least it was. Amazon’s switch to Comixology after nearly a year of disputes between customers and creators potentially threatens not only the service’s presence at the forefront of digital comics distribution, but its very existence.
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