Report: FaZe Clan Cuts 40% of Staff

Credit: FaZe Clan

Publicly-traded esports and gaming lifestyle company FaZe Clan has laid off 40% of its staff, according to a report by Digiday, based on an internal email attributed to CEO Lee Trink and shared with the publication.

These layoffs follow similar cuts in February that saw the company cut around 20% of its workforce—part of a restructuring plan that began in December.

A fresh SEC filing announcing the restructuring plan contained the following email from CEO Lee Trink to employees:

Team,

I know you are all acutely aware of the magnitude of changes happening both in the world around us and also here at FaZe in recent months. During these hard times, we must be agile to deliver on our near-term commitments, while positioning ourselves for long-term success. This means a heavy focus on our costs and redefining our structure to set us up to not only survive in this increasingly challenging macroeconomy, but prepare for the best possible future.

Starting today, we will be making changes that will reduce the size of our team by approximately 40%. If you receive a calendar invite from HR today, that does in fact mean you are affected by this reduction. I ask our entire team to extend compassion and support for our teammates, and to unite in support of one another.

This is a difficult day and I want to express my deep gratitude to each and every one of you for all of your hard work and dedication to the success of FaZe Clan.

This does not mean that we are abandoning the aspirations we have for FaZe – we are simply setting some of our larger goals aside so we can put our heads down and focus on what’s directly in front of us. We all know that after bad markets come good markets. I look forward to revisiting our long-term goals when the economy is stronger.

In my many years at FaZe, I’ve known one thing to always be true about the heart of this brand: we are fighters and survivors. And these difficult times – and the impact they have across our company, talent, founders and staff – are no different. I am confident we will fight through and we will get to the other side.

As we move forward, I’m asking our department heads to please bring your teams together as notifications are completed. Additionally, be on the lookout for a message from me about our plans to host an all hands meeting Monday. In the meantime, please take care of yourselves, and each other.

Warm regards,

Lee

The Esports Advocate has reached out to FaZe Clan for further comment and will update this story should they respond.

This news follows the announcement that FaZe Clan President and Chief Operating Officer Zach Katz would be leaving the company at the end of May. In a recent SEC filing FaZe Clan announced that current VP, Head of Esports Erik Anderson would take over as president, while Chief Financial Officer Christoph Pachler would take on the additional role of COO.

Earlier this month, FaZe Clan reported Q1 2023 results, recording $12.55M, down by 20.6% from $15.8M compared to Q1 2022.  As a result of increased operating costs and other factors, FaZe Clan ended the first quarter of 2023 with a net loss of $14.04M compared to a $9.54M net loss in the same period of last year.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include the email sent to employees by CEO Lee Trink, which was released in full on Friday as part of an SEC filing.