Layoffs and studio closures are the solution for executives looking to cut costs and therefore increase the numbers on a sheet of paper. What’s lost in it all is the devastating impact on the people who make games — some of whom may end up leaving the industry altogether. “There’s this existential crisis of, Has any of this hard work been worth it if I can’t stay in my career?” a community manager laid off in 2020 told Polygon. “I don’t want to leave games, but I feel like I have to.”
There’s also a massive loss of institutional knowledge at each individual studio as companies drop employees with long tenures and valuable skills, not to mention the cancellation of games that could have been your next favorite. It doesn’t feel like the industry’s layoffs will end soon, which puts its people in a precarious place. Like the movie industry, the video game sector seems to have a “survive till ’25” mentality — but what happens then? There’s no doubt the impact of the past several years will bleed into 2025 and beyond.
https://www.polygon.com/24177290/video-game-industry-layoffs-studio-closures-record