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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Over 6,100 gaming jobs have been lost so far over the past year due to layoffs and studio closures, according to new data.

As spotted by GamesBeat, technical artist Farhan Noor has been tracking layoff numbers since the beginning of 2023 on videogameslayoffs.com.

The tracked information includes the estimated number of employees let go, which some companies have not disclosed so the actual number of jobs lost is likely much higher.

According to Noor's data, September was the worst month for layoffs in the games industry with 17 companies cutting jobs — the highest so far this year.

The reasons 2023 has been such a terrible year for redundancies varies substantially. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, analysts, recruiters, and investors cited the current economic climate as the leading factor, including high interest rates, slowed growth, rising production costs, and increased competition as just some of the reasons why layoffs have become so frequent.

Over 80 gaming companies and media sites have been hit with layoffs so far (the full list can be read below). There have also been 11 studio shutdowns this year including Calypte, Dang, Puny Human, Volition Games, Mimimi Games, Vanpool, CyberConnect2 Montreal, Antimatter Games, Campfire Cabal, Kiloo Games, and PixelOpus.

Embracer Group issued the most rounds of layoffs at seven across its subsidiaries following a restructuring program, with affected studios including Crystal Dynamics, Beamdog, Rainbow Studios, Volition, Gearbox Publishing, and Campfire Cabal.

The highest number of employees affected by layoffs in one parent company was Unity at 900, which saw two rounds of layoffs this year with 600 employees laid off in January and nearly 300 people let go in May.

Epic Games followed close behind, having laid off 830 employees last month with British studio Mediatonic among them. Amazon Games also saw a high number of employees terminated from Twitch following a round of layoffs earlier in the year followed by another last week.

An unknown number of games people were affected by mass redundancies at larger firms that operate in other industries, such as 10,000 at Microsoft (including Bethesda Game Studios and 343 Industries), 21,000 at Meta, 7,000 at Disney, and 9,000 at Amazon.

Layoffs this year have included:

• Telltale Games
• Keywords Studios
• Twitch
• Naughty Dog
• Team17
• Creative Assembly
• Epic Games
• Mediatonic
• Maze Theory
• Other Ocean Interactive
• Blizzard Entertainment
• Roblox
• Crystal Dynamics
• Beamdog
• ProbablyMonsters
• DoubleDown Interactive
• Ascendant Studios
• Visual Concepts
• Rainbow Studios
• VentureBeat
• Gearbox Publishing
• Romino Games
• EastSide Games
• Blackbird Interactive
• BioWare
• Vela Games
• Imagendary Studios
• Striking Distance Studios
• Popcore
• CD Projekt Red
• Double Stallion Games
• Product Madness
• TavroxGames
• Daedalic Entertainment
• Ludia
• Niantic
• Elodie Games
• Wildseed Games
• Scavengers Studio
• The Game Band
• Embracer Group
• Inverse
• Firemonkeys Studio
• BonusXP
• Kabam
• Gwent team (CD Projekt Red)
• Relic Entertainment
• Deck Nine Games
• Brace Yourself Games
• The Molasses Flood (CD Projekt)
• Deviation Studios
• Ubisoft
• Final Strike Games
• Crey Games
• Plaion
• Unity
• Phoenix Labs
• Waypoint (Vice)
• Ready at Dawn
• Downpour Interactive
• Bungie
• Lightforge Games
• Counterplay Games
• Line Games
• Private Division
• GameLoft
• Survios
• Big Run Studios
• Nexon Games West
• Mutant Arm Studios
• Wicked Realm Games
• InnoGames
• EA
• Hidden Leaf Games
• HiRez Games
• Meta
• Riot Games
• Bethesda Game Studios
• The Coalition
• 343 Studios
• GameSpot
• Giant Bomb
• NetEase

Over 6,000 games industry jobs lost in 2023 so far

Over 6,100 gaming jobs have been lost so far over the past year due to layoffs and studio closures, according to new da…

www.gamesindustry.biz

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

Some of these could sadly have been avoided if companies had just been clever about their business. Embracer or THQ Nordic, whatever you want to say, could have released an excellent Saints Row game but never did. All it would have taken is for a bit of market research to find out that the final product is not what fans of the franchise really wanted, even if some played and enjoyed it.

There's an element of reach exceeding grasp on the behalf of business heads that make bizarre decisions and either don't seem to understand what gamers want or think they know better.

For those affected it's really sad. I wanted to get into this industry when I got my degree but with the toxic politics of the gaming community, certainly places like REEEEEEEEE and such, I'm glad I'm not in it. But I feel as though if I was, I'd probably have been through several jobs right now.

The cost of living is hurting things for sure. I certainly don't have anywhere near as much disposable income as I did say, before the pandemic. Game development costs rising doesn't help either. Really makes you wonder why Sony is resting on its laurels and chasing a market it's never going to crack instead of hammering out top quality gaming experiences like we know that they can. Microsoft can only fund it for so long before they have to take accountability and they too, inevitably would end up shutting studios and such. The subscription model isn't growing as they'd have hoped and I dare say it won't grow as much as they want by 2027 because costs are getting harder.

Hell I'm down to one streaming service now. I don't smoke or drink or go for nights out. It's tough man. Really tough.

 

[BbMajor7th]

Industry grew too rapidly in the last generation. The enfranchisement of gaming into the media mega-IP fraternity and the intense focus on profitability over product has left the industry in a precarious position. Games are bigger business than ever and making very good returns, but they aren't meeting the astronomical projections set by lightning-in-a-bottle one-offs like Fortnite or Minecraft. Hence, the hatchet-men are being brought in to clear out ever more talent in the hope that cutting overheads will help boost investor confidence - it won't.

 

[Unknown?]

No shit the economy is crap no matter how much they twist numbers to make it look good.

 

[ProtoByte]

I'll just say it: This isn't as big a deal as it's being out to be. Even if the number in 10,000 across the industry, that's how many Microsoft slated for layoffs alone in January, if you want to lean on tech generally.

Obviously, it sucks when people lose their jobs, but let's keep it in perspective.

Really makes you wonder why Sony is resting on its laurels and chasing a market it's never going to crack instead of hammering out top quality gaming experiences like we know that they can.

You just said 2 contradictory things and 1 false thing.

False:
Have you not been getting quality gaming experiences these past 3 years? More consistently than ever before at the early stages of a generation from PS, at that?

Contradictory:
Resting on their laurels would be sticking their head in the sand and not probing the majorly profitable live service space. I don't like it, but there have been too many consumers who've given too much time, money and attention to these things for a company to not look into it.

 

[Rudius]

If they put all their effort in just making good games, and the types of games particular niches want, not what they "should" want, with no agenda, no pandering, no politics, no dick suckling the industry would be thriving.

 

[Kaleinc]

6000 real jobs about to be created

 

[West Texas CEO]

The only way to stop this kind of loss is to raise game prices.

 

[LordBlodgett]

Sort of to be expected. Gaming boomed during the Covid lockdowns, companies hired a lot expecting the boom to become permanent, and now the economy is headed down globally and sales are down as well......Classic boom bust cycle. Gaming is still in a great place.

 

[SEGAvangelist]

Maybe it's mean, but I don't think much was lost.

 

[rofif]

Doesn't sound like much at all.
let's remember this industry earns more than movies industry

 

[ChuckeRearmed]

I think for the next couple of months and maybe a year, we will have more reports of that. COVID endless growth has ended.

But by and large, gaming industry employs hundreds and thousands of people.

 

[HTK]

One of the reasons I gave up on the industry is the fact on average every 3 years you had to get a new job and on top of that most likely had to move for it. No stability but for the very few at the top.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

If that 6000 was made up of ideologue activist types who don't care about the medium but instead want to use it merely as a platform to push radical leftist propaganda, then good fucking riddance.

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Standard procedure.

 

[FF:Enhanced_Reality]

I'll just say it: This isn't as big a deal as it's being out to be. Even if the number in 10,000 across the industry, that's how many Microsoft slated for layoffs alone in January, if you want to lean on tech generally.

Obviously, it sucks when people lose their jobs, but let's keep it in perspective.


You just said 2 contradictory things and 1 false thing.

False:
Have you not been getting quality gaming experiences these past 3 years? More consistently than ever before at the early stages of a generation from PS, at that?

Contradictory:
Resting on their laurels would be sticking their head in the sand and not probing the majorly profitable live service space. I don't like it, but there have been too many consumers who've given too much time, money and attention to these things for a company to not look into it.

Oh Christ you're one of those.

Not false because three years into the PS4 life cycle I had just as much, if not more quality titles that I was enjoying. Objective dependent on view point but you feel as though the start to PS5 has been better. I'll agree to disagree.

And if Sony really wants a GaaS title to succeed, maybe they should do it properly? Concord and FairGame$ look like complete trash. They've got law breakers written all over them. They've got 10 more of these in development and if not a single one hits the mark that's a serious fucking problem for Sony because they'll have pissed all that cash away chasing a dream. Especially when the title that was most likely to hit the mark, now appears to be on ice or cancelled.

Like I said before, I think Jim Ryan has been given his marching orders. I think Naughty Dog having their product affected by Bungie has probably caused some disharmony and this push for live service games very much was a Jim initiative. I think amongst other things he's got wrong, that the top brass at PlayStation have probably looked at these titles in development and thought, we might have a problem here.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

...and people conveniently ignore that this industry is already fucked up.... disruption is needed.

Then we have the engine news from Unity/Epic.

The contradictory thing about videogames (and maybe art/design, entertainment in general) is that is incredible hard to be successful, but at the same time incredibly accessible for even teenagers to find success in this industry.

 

[acm2000]

how does this compare to other years?

 

[ProtoByte]

Oh Christ you're one of those.

Not false because three years into the PS4 life cycle I had just as much, if not more quality titles that I was enjoying. Objective dependent on view point but you feel as though the start to PS5 has been better. I'll agree to disagree.

I guess we can agree to disagree if you think Killzone Shadowfall, Infamous Second Son, Knack, The Order, LBP3 (lame), Driveclub, Bloodborne and Uncharted 4 is a better 3 year line up than Spider-Man Miles, Demon's Souls, GT7, Returnal, Ratchet Rift Apart, Kena, Horizon Forbidden West, God of War Ragnarok and Spider-Man 2.

And if Sony really wants a GaaS title to succeed, maybe they should do it properly? Concord and FairGame$ look like complete trash. They've got law breakers written all over them. They've got 10 more of these in development and if not a single one hits the mark that's a serious fucking problem for Sony because they'll have pissed all that cash away chasing a dream. Especially when the title that was most likely to hit the mark, now appears to be on ice or cancelled.

Now you're shifting the argument. You said that Sony was resting on their laurels. Now you're saying they're not venturing into a new space properly, and that they've taken a large risk that might not pay off. That's the exact opposite of "resting on your laurels". And while you're almost definitely not one of them, I remember lot of people wanting Sony to do some other nameless thing aside from their "movie games".
From what little we've seen of Fairgames, I would agree with your assessment, but it's too early to be making definitive pronouncements.

Like I said before, I think Jim Ryan has been given his marching orders.

I think this would've happened with or without Ryan, but sure.

 

[Thirty7ven]

It’s ok the savior of gaming will scoop them all up and let them make that game you always wanted, and it will be free.

 

[Nydius]

Resting on their laurels would be sticking their head in the sand and not probing the majorly profitable live service space. I don't like it, but there have been too many consumers who've given too much time, money and attention to these things for a company to not look into it.

If they follow through with Ryan's plans of spending upwards of 60% of all development funds on GaaS games by March 2026, it's going to come back to bite them in the ass. The live service space is almost tapped-out as is. Nothing has been able to dethrone Fortnite or Destiny in their respective spaces. Sony now owns Destiny. Trying to make a competitor to their own alpha-dog live service title is absolutely batshit insane.

GaaS games are the late 2010s/early 2020s repeat of the "WoW Killer" MMO market of the late 2000s, early 2010s. Everyone rushed out to cash in, very few did. Most end up crashing, burning, and losing everything. People only have so much time and money, and they tend to stick to the properties they've already invested the most into. Going to an entirely new property at square one almost never works. There's already a landfill heap of failed GaaS games as proof.

 

[ProtoByte]

If they follow through with Ryan's plans of spending upwards of 60% of all development funds on GaaS games by March 2026, it's going to come back to bite them in the ass. The live service space is almost tapped-out as is. Nothing has been able to dethrone Fortnite or Destiny in their respective spaces. Sony now owns Destiny. Trying to make a competitor to their own alpha-dog live service title is absolutely batshit insane.

GaaS games are the late 2010s/early 2020s repeat of the "WoW Killer" MMO market of the late 2000s, early 2010s. Everyone rushed out to cash in, very few did. Most end up crashing, burning, and losing everything. People only have so much time and money, and they tend to stick to the properties they've already invested the most into. Going to an entirely new property at square one almost never works. There's already a landfill heap of failed GaaS games as proof.

Trust me dude, I don't need convincing of any of this. I expressly dislike that they delved into gaas at all, but I can divorce my own feelings from it and recognize it, as you have, as a risk.

 

[Ozzie666]

I look forward to $100 USD games, $175 AUD, $160 CDN.

Manage studios better, stop chasing graphics, when is enough enough?

 

[Barakov]

The only way to stop this kind of loss is to raise game prices.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

How many have been gained? Would like to see the actual change of lost vs created rather than just a mostly boring tally of layoffs.

 

[Soodanim]

I just want to know if Twitch's layoffs included that deranged idiot that cosplays as a deer

 

[DenchDeckard]

Something is amiss....

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Industry grew too rapidly in the last generation. The enfranchisement of gaming into the media mega-IP fraternity and the intense focus on profitability over product has left the industry in a precarious position. Games are bigger business than ever and making very good returns, but they aren't meeting the astronomical projections set by lightning-in-a-bottle one-offs like Fortnite or Minecraft. Hence, the hatchet-men are being brought in to clear out ever more talent in the hope that cutting overheads will help boost investor confidence - it won't.

Gaming is an industry anyone can get into. It can be a single person or a small group of people doing indie games uploaded to Steam.

Looking at the OP's list of companies affected with layoffs. Thats just ones known to have layoffs. The total number of companies (big and small) making games is astronomical.