The developer of Axie Infinity, Sky Mavis, announced a 21% reduction in its workforce, affecting 50 of its 250 employees. The measure aims to align the company with its long-term vision, focused on strategic growth and resource optimization. According to CEO Trung Nguyen, this decision is not due to financial issues, but rather to the need to prepare the company for "hypergrowth" in 2025 and beyond. Affected workers will receive severance pay and support for their re-employment.
Innovation and challenges in the video game industry
Since its founding in 2018 in Vietnam, Sky Mavis has transformed blockchain gaming with Axie Infinity, a game that popularized the "Play-to-Earn" model. This system allows players to earn cryptocurrencies by breeding, battling, and trading Axies, unique NFT creatures inspired by games like Pokémon. During the pandemic, Axie Infinity achieved great success, with millions of users and thousands of active players daily.
However, the company faced a major challenge in 2022 when it suffered a cyberattack that resulted in the theft of 600 million dollars from the Ronin Network, its blockchain. Sky Mavis compensated affected users and raised 150 million dollars in a funding round led by Binance.
Looking to the future
Sky Mavis plans to expand its ecosystem with improvements to the Ronin Network, new features for the Ronin wallet, the development of the Mavis marketplace, and the launch of a new Axie game. Additionally, it seeks to consolidate its presence in the field of Web3 game publishing.