One-Third of U.S. Video Game Industry Workers Were Laid Off Over the Last Two Years, GDC Study Reveals
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But Microsoft pinky promised that allowing them to breach anti-trust law would not result in layoffs.
Shouldn't indy studios be springing up everywhere?
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I was included in this. Was laid off back in June 2025. One of the best places I ever worked.
The industry is super tough. I got very lucky & started a new job at the beginning of the month. Being out of work for 6 months sucked, and some people I mentor have been out much longer.
What would happen if the layed off created new studios together?
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Investors are not required to form an indie studio, in the case where every team member of that studio has some means to pay their own rent/mortgage, bills, and feed themselves for the entire duration of the project. If you're in the US, you'll also need to figure out how you're paying for health insurance. This could be a passion project in addition to a day job, but coordinating work/life balance in that scenario with multiple team members is exponentially difficult.
Money adds up quick. Let's use some round numbers and say you want to hire a team with some experience (those folks that just got laid off and are looking for work). Let's say everybody on the team costs the project $100k/year in salary & benefits. Let's just imagine that includes costs a normal employer would pay: insurance premiums, IT hosting costs, all the little stuff. Note, this is underpaying people with more than 5 years experience who live in California (where many game dev studios are based). Let's say you can get the game made in one year with everybody starting on day one and ending on ship day, exactly 365 days later. People will be wearing multiple hats, but let's be general.
- 1x Gameplay Programmer
- 1x 3D Artist (general modeler)
- 1x 2D Artist (general texture artist)
- 1x Game Designer (Camera/Controls/Combat)
- 1x Audio Designer
$500k
Expanding that team:
- 1x Animator
- 1x Character Artist
- 1x Environment Artist
- 1x Prop Artist
- 1x VFX Artist
- 1x Lighting Specialist
- 1x Tools Programmer
- 1x Render/Optimization Programmer
- 1x Level Designer
- 1x Narrative Designer
$1.5M
That's a 15 person studio, where people are still wearing multiple hats like UI, Music, IT, Testing, other things I'm forgetting about. This isn't anywhere close to a AAA sized team of 100+ people.
This is also assuming you can stick to a STRICT time schedule. In reality you're probably going to need a very small team at the start and not grow until you finish prototyping, then again once you've done a vertical slice.
Anyway. This post got real long. The gist of it is the people making the game need that money to live. There should be space in the industry to make a game with a team this size, paying your employees something close to what the big studios pay them. Getting that kind of money has been incredibly difficult these past few years.
Can kick-starter work for funding? Weekend game jam, demo, kick-start, develop, repeat.
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As someone who was recently laid off if anyone wants to front the cash I'm currently available for cheap.
I would front $10 if you can produce a fun "game jam winning" level of prototype.
You just need a few thousand more like me. -
By not competing with them. Gaben has 1.5 billion dollars worth of yachts. Steam doesn't need to be taking 30% and only does so because everyone else does. I guess big companies colluding, each with a billionaire at the helm, is kind of the law of the market tbh but it's not "the best".
how is steam not competing with them? steam outcompeted them.
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how is steam not competing with them? steam outcompeted them.
Everyone's fine with staying in their lane and charging the standard percentage. Keeping the status quo to maximize profits isn't competing.
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What would happen if the layed off created new studios together?
Being able to get in contact easily (with the laid off) would be rough, and creating a new studio with no passive income and only promises is a hard sell. But that's honestly not a terrible idea. Get devs to coalesce into indie studios ready to make whatever passion game they've had rattling around.
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Everyone's fine with staying in their lane and charging the standard percentage. Keeping the status quo to maximize profits isn't competing.
you should study a little game theory and industrial design. some markets balance that way
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That's fucking brutal
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Shouldn't indy studios be springing up everywhere?
Investment money is not as plentiful as it was several years ago. I've heard it in several interviews with developers or devs themselves. (Game Maker's Notebook, Mike and Rami are Still Here, and a few devs on YouTube come to mind.)
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you should study a little game theory and industrial design. some markets balance that way
"Price fixing happens, it's a normal part of a healthy market"
Doesn't make it right or legal. Stop defending billionaires please.
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"Price fixing happens, it's a normal part of a healthy market"
Doesn't make it right or legal. Stop defending billionaires please.
i'm not defending them. i've done the math.
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That's fucking brutal
Is it dot com bubble levels of lay offs? I just want to have some kind of reference point, not being rude.
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Can kick-starter work for funding? Weekend game jam, demo, kick-start, develop, repeat.
Yes? Isn't kick-starter made for this case? The problem is that the money from kick-starter is usually not enough, it is more to prove to other investors that people are interested so the other investors dare to go in with more money.
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Is it dot com bubble levels of lay offs? I just want to have some kind of reference point, not being rude.
Based on cursory search: not yet, but 2023-present have been highest layoff levels since 2001. Again, I know nothing.
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Being able to get in contact easily (with the laid off) would be rough, and creating a new studio with no passive income and only promises is a hard sell. But that's honestly not a terrible idea. Get devs to coalesce into indie studios ready to make whatever passion game they've had rattling around.
Also crowdsourcing has worked many times when trusted names/teams are behind a project.
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Based on cursory search: not yet, but 2023-present have been highest layoff levels since 2001. Again, I know nothing.
Then it is really bad. I hope they find other jobs.
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Is it dot com bubble levels of lay offs? I just want to have some kind of reference point, not being rude.
It's messy, there are a lot of people laid off, but also there are a lot of companies snatching up talent. I know some games people that have been laid off three times in the past 2 years
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What would happen if the layed off created new studios together?
All the venture switched over to AI. Nobody wants to fund new studios. Games are brutal, only one in a massive pile ever become profitable. Gamedev is roughly full time work, but they still need to eat.
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It's messy, there are a lot of people laid off, but also there are a lot of companies snatching up talent. I know some games people that have been laid off three times in the past 2 years
Good that some companies can invest in talent. It must be tough to lose a job, get a new job and then lose that one as well within two years and I can't imagine how it would feel like to lose my job three times in two years.
