Sea, owner of Shopee e-commerce site, cuts video game staff in Shanghai, shuts some Latin American operations
- Sea Limited’s Garena, operator of the Free Fire mobile game, is laying off people in its major development centre of Shanghai, sources say
- Singapore-based Shopee will quit Argentina entirely and lay off dozens of local employees in Chile, Colombia and Mexico, other sources say
Shopee chief executive Chris Feng said in an internal email seen by Reuters that “in light of the current elevated macro uncertainty”, Sea needed to “focus resources on core operations”.
New York-listed Sea has been cutting jobs across its units in recent months after reporting a nearly US$1 billion quarterly loss in the April-June quarter. Garena’s biggest source of revenue is the Free Fire mobile game.
Sea will quit Argentina entirely, according to the email and three sources with direct knowledge of the matter. It will maintain cross-border operations in Chile, Colombia and Mexico but lay off dozens of local employees, the people said.
Shopee confirmed to Reuters it would operate a “cross-border model in Chile, Colombia and Mexico, and close in Argentina.”