A year on, and we’re still in the middle of one of the biggest workforce shakeups in the history of the games industry. In 2024 alone, layoffs have surpassed 13,000, breaking last year’s record, which was substantial in its own right. In fact, by March, the industry had already exceeded 2023’s total, showing little sign of slowing down.
Many hoped that 2024 would bring stability, yet by September, an additional 1,000 industry professionals were laid off. As layoffs continue, they remain a difficult reality, and most of us are fed up of seeing another lay-off headline in the news. Given that I started this blog almost 20,000+ layoffs in, with no signs of where that figure might end, it was important to have some post here having our own retrospective look back at an unprecedented period for the industry.
The Biggest offenders
- Microsoft: 1,900 layoffs at Activision Blizzard and Xbox in January, followed by 650 more in September.
- Unity: Reduced its workforce by 25% in January, affecting approximately 1,800 roles. This was their fourth layoff round since 2022.
- EA: Cut 670 positions, or 5% of its workforce, following a similar 6% cut last year that affected around 775 employees.
- Take-Two Interactive: Announced a 5% workforce reduction, impacting around 600 employees by year-end.
- Riot Games: Announced in January that 11% of its workforce, or 530 roles globally, would be eliminated.
- SEGA: Cut 240 jobs across its UK studios following the sale of Relic Entertainment.
So what happened?
Many in the industry are calling this wave of layoffs the “COVID bubble” bursting. During the pandemic, gaming saw rapid growth as people, with limited entertainment options, turned to games. Larger corporations capitalized on this boom by expanding their workforces substantially, often hiring remotely. Now, several years later, funding is drying up, ambitious projects are underperforming, and companies are increasingly resistant to the remote structures they once embraced.
As a recruiter through the layoffs in late 2023 and early 2024, I observed the shift firsthand in conversations between hiring teams and candidates. Remote work had become a standard that many, particularly programmers, were unwilling to give up, recognizing its clear personal benefits. Yet, despite studios promoting flexibility and hybrid options, management was often deliberating how to bring employees back to their offices. In some cases, studios sought compromises; for example, Splash Damage, based in Bromley, adopted a four-day work week as a trade-off for not offering full remote options to new hires.
Canceled Projects:
- Blizzard – Overwatch 2 (PvE)
- Blizzard – Odyssey: Survival game canceled
- Ubisoft – Several Unannounced Projects
- Epic Games- Several Unannounced Projects
- Respawn / EA – Untitled Star Wars FPS
- EA – Lord of the Rings: Heroes of Middle-Earth (Mobile)
- Certain Affinity – Halo Battle Royale
- Firesprite: Twisted Metal project
- Eidos-Montreal (Embracer) – Deus Ex Sequel
- Bandai Namco – Five new projects
- Take-Two Interactive – Several projects cut
- Riot Forge – Ending after Bandle Tale
- Arkane Studios / Bethesda Softworks – Redfall
- Tango Gameworks – Hi-Fi Rush
- Alpha Dog Games – Mighty Doom (Mobile)
- ZA/UM – Disco Elysium Sequel
- Media Molecule – Dreams PC Port
- Surgent Studios – Tales of Kenzera: Zau, featuring Abubakar Salim
- Studio Thunderhorse – Ronin Rush
- Warhaven Console Ports: Nexon
Glimmers of hope?
I won’t sugarcoat this article by searching for a ‘silver lining’ behind what has been, for tens of thousands, a period of immense personal and professional struggle, marked by corporate cutbacks and restructuring. Yet, this mass layoff period has led to two developments that offer a glimpse of optimism for the future.
An Indie Revolution:
With so many talented developers laid off—many with redundancy packages—there’s been an observable move into indie development for a lot of them. Many have taken this opportunity to pursue passion projects, with some entire teams regrouping to establish new studios and retain creative control. For example, layoffs at ZA/UM have led to the creation of four new indie studios focused on RPG games inspired by Disco Elysium. (Read our article about it here!)
This could signal an industry shift, with thousands of smaller studios embracing innovation to survive and deliver games that excite fans. Once the economic climate improves and publishers are ready to reinvest, they’ll have a wealth of indie prototypes to explore. We may also see an influx of crowdfunded games, freeing these projects from traditional publisher constraints.
Unionization and Industry Resilience:
Mass layoffs have also intensified the call for unionization. Across the industry, workers are rallying against companies that treat thousands of jobs as mere numbers to “tighten margins.” During Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, for instance, employees there have unionized. Additionally we saw QA testers at ZeniMax organized into a union, a promising model for future industry efforts.
The past two years have brought significant upheaval to the gaming industry, reshaping corporate strategies and workforce dynamics alike. While layoffs and project cancellations have left a negative mark on what has otherwise been an era of impressive game releases, they’ve also sparked resilience among developers. Many have pivoted toward indie projects or unionization efforts, signaling the potential for positive change. This challenging period may ultimately lead to a more diverse, innovative, and equitable industry—one marked by independent studios with creative freedom and stronger worker unions advocating for their rights.
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