While the gaming industry is unfortunately known for ups and downs in the labor market, this year has seen a significant amount of layoff, especially when put alongside of industries seeing similar trends.
Thanks to http://videogamelayoffs.com/ (please be careful with this link, no SSL certificate to be found), we can see how that has looked over time. Specifically, it highlights that September has been the most brutal month for gaming layoffs with 17 companies issuing layoffs and a total of over 6,100 cuts in 2023 alone. This total is probably much higher as some companies have not disclosed the percentage or number of people laid off when they happen.
When breaking down the numbers, we can see who’s been doing the most cutting by number and by rounds. When it comes to the number of reported people being laid off, Unity leads the industry with around 900 people with Epic Games not being far behind at 830. When it comes to rounds, the Embracer Group has loosened its grip 7 times while EA has gotten people out of the game 6 times.
Hopefully, these folks have gotten back on their feet one way or another in the past 10 months. It’s good to see some people actually fighting back in one way or another after layoffs. Others have put together resources here and here.
