The beginning of 2023 has continued to witness a trend that is unsettling yet familiar within the gaming industry – layoffs. This January, more than the winter blues, employees at some well-known game development studios faced the dire reality of losing their jobs.
Behaviour Interactive, the gaming studio recognized for the popular multiplayer horror game Dead By Daylight, has confirmed the termination of roughly 45 of its employees. This news broke out following a report by Kotaku, providing the gaming community with a stark reminder of the industry’s unstable job security. CI Games, known for titles like Lords of The Fallen and the Sniper Ghost Warrior series, followed suit by laying off about 10% of its workforce. This reduction reportedly includes staff from the subsidiaries Hexworks and Underdog, as per an article by GamesIndustry.biz.
The reasons behind the layoffs from both companies echo a familiar narrative often heard in corporate press statements during such events. CI Games CEO Marek Tyminski was quoted by GamesIndustry.biz expressing the difficult but deemed necessary actions taken by the company. The aim was said to preserve the business’s strength and stability through targeted redundancies and optimizations within the company’s pipelines and processes. The CEO emphasized gratitude for the contributions of the departing employees. It was revealed by sources and LinkedIn posts that although the marketing department faced a significant hit from the job cuts, Hexworks and Underdog were not spared either.
Behaviour Interactive's approach to addressing layoffs was reported by Kotaku, where they attributed their actions to the necessity of adjusting the scope of several projects due to changing market conditions. The studio expressed its preference for reassigning employees to different projects over layoffs but admitted that this was not always a feasible solution. The statement attempted to offer a silver lining by emphasizing that the layoffs accounted for less than 3% of their total workforce, providing small relief in light of the situation.
This kind of corporate communication is repeatedly observed across various gaming studios during periods of layoffs. The week that this news surfaced also saw Thunderful Group slashing 20% of its staff, and in the month prior, Twitch parted ways with 500 employees. In a rather grim display of seasonal spirit, TinyBuild eliminated all positions at Versus Evil right before Christmas the previous year. The ongoing cycle of layoffs seems to reflect a broader sentiment in the industry – one of caution and trepidation concerning job security.
The broader impact of these layoffs on the gaming industry is sobering. According to a tag used by news outlets to signify articles about layoffs, 40% of such content in the recent nine months has been concerning this unfortunate topic. The implications are telling – the frequency of these layoffs is on the rise.
To provide some insight, ahead of the 2024 Game Developers Conference (GDC), the GDC released its "State Of The Game" survey results. From over 3,000 respondents in the industry, 35% have been personally affected by layoffs, and more than half fear their own company may face layoffs within the year.
However, a glimmer of hope surfaces among younger game developers. According to the survey, 72% of developers aged 18-24 are in favor of unionization. This enthusiasm for unionization among the younger demographic of developers may be a signal of changing attitudes within the industry towards collective bargaining and job security.
The truth is harsh yet inescapable. Game development, often idolized for its creativity and innovation, is not immune to the volatile nature of the job market. While developers may craft worlds of fantasy and escape, they are bound to the same economic realities that shape any industry. As they navigate the shifting sands of corporate strategy and market demand, the pursuit of better job stability and security remains a poignant quest for those who bring these digital realms to life.
You must be logged in to post a comment!
