Over one in 10 builders questioned in a brand new trade survey stated they had been laid off over the previous yr.
GDC’s newest annual State of the Sport Business survey, which requested over 3,000 recreation builders throughout indie and AAA studios questions on their work, was revealed on Tuesday.
About 11% of respondents reported being laid off up to now 12 months, which was up from 7% in final yr’s survey.
And 41% of respondents stated they’d been impacted by layoffs, up from 35% in GDC’s 2024 report.
29% stated they’d colleagues who misplaced their jobs, which was up from 17% a yr earlier, whereas 18% stated employees in different groups or departments had been laid off, which was up from 11%.
As well as, 4% stated their studios had been shut down over the previous yr.
The highest three causes firms gave for making layoffs had been restructuring (22%), declining income (18%) and market shifts/trade traits (15%).
43% of contributors stated there hadn’t been any layoffs at their firms, which was down from 53% the earlier yr.
Sport developer Farhan Noor, who has been monitoring trade job cuts on videogameslayoffs.com, estimates that round 14,600 employees had been laid off in 2024 – up from a complete of 10,500 in 2023 and eight,500 in 2022.
Sport firms reportedly impacted by layoffs to date this yr embrace Wargaming USA, Highwire Video games, Netmarble, Toadman Interactive, Freejam, Pirahna Video games, Counterplay Video games, Microsoft, Splash Harm, and Jar of Sparks.
