Like many sectors, game developers have been cutting headcount due to economic uncertainty through out 2023. According to Farhan Noor’s videogamelayoffs.com, game developers issued layoffs to over 6,100 employees in 2023 (so far).
Unfortunately, the true count is likely to be much higher. Many companies did not disclose the exact number of gaming jobs cut. Additionally, this list does not include Web3 gaming companies or esports organizations.
Layoffs by the numbers
Embracer Group has issued the largest number of known layoff rounds at seven. This isn’t too surprising as the company announced a restructuring plan in June. In April 2022, The Swedish holding company told the Financial Times it had acquired 62 companies for $8.1 billion.
Electronic Arts has issued the second most with six rounds. While the total number of layoffs is unknown, the majority of known cuts were from EA’s Baton Rouge QA department.
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Of the parent companies with known figures, Unity, Epic and Amazon Games have made the largest cuts to headcount. Unity issued two rounds of layoffs this year — one in January and another in May — for a total of 900 cut staff. Epic Games made a similar cut of 830 employees or 16% of its workforce two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, most of Amazon’s 535 gaming job cuts were Twitch staffers. The livestreaming service laid off 400 employees in March, with another 35 cut earlier this week.
September was the worst month yet for 2023. Last month, 17 companies issued layoffs. However, Q3 fell just short of Q2’s 40 rounds. Unfortunately, the data suggests that layoffs are ramping up rather than slowing down.
Cuts in context
While games industry revenue is still projected to grow over the next several years, those expectations have become more modest since pandemic era highs. Growing economic uncertainty has lead to tightening budgets and headcount in games.
However, games are not alone in seeing widespread cuts. In 2023, over 1,000 technology companies have issued layoffs to around 240,000 employees as well.
That said, there are resources for jobseekers. Jan David Hassel of EA DICE put together this list of opportunities. Additionally, Amir Satvat of Tencent Games also put together a comprehensive list of resources.