Web3 plans appear to be first on the chopping block for struggling social media enterprise Snap Inc (NYSE:SNAP).
The California-based technology company stated on Wednesday that 20% of its workforce of more than 6,400 employees was to be laid off amid a decline in advertising revenues.
According to a Twitter thread written by Jake Sheinman, whose LinkedIn profile cites him as Snap’s research and development program manager, “as a result of the company restructure, decisions were made to sunset our web3 team.
“The same team that I co-founded last year with other pirates who believed in digital ownership and the role that AR can play to support that.”
A spokesperson for Snap provided further details to Bloomberg, stating that while augmented reality is a continued focus for the company, “early explorations in the web3 space represent a project that doesn’t directly contribute to our priority and continued investment in AR,” adding that only a few people were involved with the web3 effort.
Snap is also ditching plans for an original series of short-form programmes under the Snap Originals banner, as well as in-app games and the Pixy drone peripheral.
Nasdaq-listed SNAP shares have tanked over 75% this year amid somewhat of a bloodbath for social media and tech stocks.