All Video Game Industry Layoffs in 2024

May. 23, 2024

You would think the gaming industry is booming with games like Hellbalde 2, Palworld, Starfield, and even the upcoming GTA 6. Sadly, the reality is often disappointing. And my heart sinks every day, waking up to yet another video game company announcing massive layoffs or a shutdown (RIP Arcane). If you closely follow the video game industry, you must already know the dire situation unfolding before us.

But how many jobs have been affected by the video game industry layoffs? Let’s take a brief look before we dive into the details:

Video Game Industry Layoffs: A Broader Look

As with everything else in life, not every video game company layoff got the same attention. Out of every single video game industry layoffs, some received higher traction. Let’s try to gain a better understanding of all the companies above.

Microsoft’s video game division spent $75.6 billion to acquire Activision Blizzard and ZeniMax Media, two of America’s most seasoned video game companies. Shortly after, there were mass layoffs across every Xbox wing, amounting to approximately 2150+ job cuts. The reasons for this included the company’s inability to make expected profits from its purchased IPS. According to reports, more layoffs are planned at Xbox.

The software giant, known for its video game engine, has stayed in hot waters for a while. Be it the inflammatory comments made by its CEO or the Unity Engine install fees. However, the industry heard the unfortunate news of 1800 employees being let go earlier this year. This was notably done as part of acompany resetto help clear things out.

PlayStation Studios had to share the bad news of layoffs across the board, including the shutdown of the PS London studio. The Japanese hardware/software giant planned to let go of 909 employees as acompany restructuring, which was 8% of its workforce.

The video game giant known for its yearly EA Sports FC titles and other games had to lay off 670 staff across the division. While there aren’t any concrete details on the reasons, it is mainly attributed to company restructuring.

While Take-Two Interactive saved Gearbox from closure by purchasing them, the same cannot be said about its employees. As early as last April, news of Take-Two Interactive shutting down Roll7 and Intercept Games was made public. Furthermore, Take-Two Interactive has reported company-wide layoffs for no apparent reason.

The free-to-play video game giant, known for hit games like Valorant, League of Legends, etc., also saw its fair share of layoffs. This translated into 530 employees, amounting to 11% of its workforce. This also halted future Riot Forge projects.

The reasoning behind the layoff was that the company’s investments were not paying off to meet expectations. However, they also received a lot of appreciation for their severance plan.

Even Amazon’s video streaming giant wasn’t spared. Unfortunately, 500 employees, around 35% of the company, lost their livelihoods to the industry layoff. CEO Dan Clancy argued that while the business remained strong, theyoverestimated its growth.

SEGA formally attributed these layoffs to therapidly changing financial landscape, the decline in demand during the COVID-19 era, and inflation.

The Dead by Daylight developers might be busy building and adding iconic horror villains to the popular asymmetrical horror game, but they were also part of the layoffs. The 45-employee layoff happened because ofchanging market conditions, impacting less than 3% of their workforce.

Support studio Lost Boys Interactive, known for working with Gearbox on Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands and Diablo 4, saw 125 employees lose their jobs to the video game layoffs. The official reasoning was to downsize to continue functioning and tackle “the headwinds facing the industry right now.”

While Lords of the Fallen developer Hexworks is safe, the decision was made tomaximize their efficiency. Furthermore, as per CI Games, the May 10 layoff was their company’s last one for a while.

The seminal developer, known for creating hits like Deus Ex, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and Guardians of the Galaxy, had to let go of 97 employees from the company. This was part of the ongoingEmbracer layoffs, which saw multiple studios under Embracer going through restructuring.

The company cited theglobal economic condition, with Embracer’s restructuring influencing the layoff decision. People from development teams, administration, and support services were let go.

While SuperMassive Games announced remastering Until Dawn for PC and PS5, they also had to announce the unfortunate departure of over 90 employees. The layoffs happened because ofcompany-wide reorganizing, and they were entering a consultation period, resulting in people losing jobs.

The indie developer known for the well-beloved twin-stick shooter Ruiner decided to lay off around 80 employees from the company. This was around 80% of their workforce let go. The layoffs haveno concrete reason, but I assume it is because of the current market restructuring.

An indie publishing house known for publishing some well-known indie hits, Thunderful Group, had to let go of around 75 employees. The company aimed to improve its competitiveness bylowering costsand re-focusing on areas that bring it profits. This layoff resulted in 20% of their workforce losing jobs.

The Private Division-owned studio, known for working on the Kerbals Space Program 2 early-access, couldn’t see the final game lift-off. It was announced earlier last month that the studio would completely shut down.

The Warner-Bros-owned developer, well-known for working on the Mortal Kombat video games, Injustice, and the mobile ports of both games, was also a part of the unfortunate layoff. After the division closed the lights and pulled the shutters for good, fifty employees were let go of their mobile game team.

After seventeen years, Pieces Interactive shuts down its studio amidst an ever-changing landscape, falling the latest victim to the latest rounds of video game industry layoffs. Around fifty employees lost their livelihood after Embracer Group shut down the studio as part of their ongoing restructuring. Interestingly enough, a few months back, Embracer Group confirmed that they were done with their restructuring. Hence, this latest shutdown comes as a surprise. The studio last worked at this year’s Alone in the Dark Reboot.

Unfortunately, the Barcelona division of Smilegate closed its shutters, and around 45 employees lost their livelihoods. Smilegate hasn’t issued any statements regarding the shutdown.

As Hidden Path Entertainment stopped developing the Dungeons & Dragons RPG at the behest of Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, it had to let go of 44 employees. The reason was part of thecompany restructuringand layoffs. They had to shut the studio down to ensure it kept functioning as intended and sustained in the market situation.

The developers known for making the Destroy the Human games had tocut off 50% of their studio strength. This resulted in a layoff of around 40 employees. This was part of the ongoing Embracer layoffs, as Black Forest Games is a part of THQ Nordic.

The indie publisher known for publishing some good indie games had to lay off around 40 employees across their branches. This was part of itsrestructuring efforts.

The well-known strategy game company responsible for co-developing the Age of Empires 4 and other popular strategy games also had layoffs. Relic Entertainment did soto give itself a chance to survive in the industry. Furthermore, this layoff happened right after Sega severed ties with Relic.

Amidst the development of their debut game, Wyrdsong, Something Wicked Games had to cut most of their workforce. This resulted in 40 employees losing their jobs. The company hasn’t given any statement for the layoff.

The well-regarded indie publisher known for publishing hit indie games like Midnight Fight Express, Signalis, Void Bastards, etc., has also gone through a mass layoff. The details initially mentioned that the company had officially shut down, which came from past employees. However, Humble Games later clarified that this is a restructuring layoff, and the company still exists. They cited that the layoffs were done to stabilize and support their developers and ongoing projects.

The developers of games like Bulletstorm and looter-shooter Outriders had to let go of 30 employees. The development director, Adam Alker, explained that they had to let go of the employees due tobudget limitations and shrinking scope.

The Life is Strange and Telltale’s Expanse series developers also had to let go of around 25 employees. The studio statement claims that Deck Nine was affected by theworsening market conditions.

Unfortunately, the Paradox Interactive-owned developer Tectonic, responsible for creating the life simulation video game Life by You, faced layoffs. Not only was the game’s early-access launch last month canceled but the entire studio comprising 24 employees was laid off, as the studio was closed down by Paradox Interactive.

The Disco Elysium developers have always been a part of many controversies. However, amidst all that, they also had to let go of 24 employees. Per the ZA/UM statement, the layoffs occurred because of company restructuring, implying that projects were canceled internally.

Interestingly, ZA/UM has been embroiled in controversies since the original creators of Disco Elysium were ousted from the company.

Starward Industries developed The Invincible, which gained some traction as a brilliant science-fiction adaptation. However, the studio wasn’t invincible, succumbing to video game layoffs.

This resulted in the studio letting go of 15 employees. The layoffs happened tooptimize costsand saw CEO Marek Makuszewski resigning, though staying as a key shareholder in the company.

The mobile gaming giant known for creating the top-rated Angry Birds franchise saw 16 employees lose their jobs. This ultimately resulted in their Rovio Montreal office shutting down. Rovio Montreal was making an unannounced project, which has since been canceled. Sadly, we have no reason for the layoffs.

The indie studio responsible for publishing the moderately popular Metroidvania platformerTales of Kenzera: ZAU, Surgent Studios, also faced the unfortunate burns of the video games industry and its layoffs. Twelve employees were let go from the studios, which the studio founder, Abubakar Salim, also confirmed with a heavy heart.

A studio under Take-Two Interactive, 31st Union, saw around ten people losing their jobs to the layoffs. They were let go by 2K Games to focus on better support of the studio and games. No further information was given. 31st Union was planning on making games under the 2K Games label, specifically at one point, shortlisted to build a new Mafia game.

Indie game publisher Curve Games saw around five people lose their jobs to the layoffs. No exact details exist on the reasoning.

2K Games-owned Visual Concepts, well-known for working on the WWE 2K games and NBA 2K games, also had some layoffs. However, the numbers are currently not public.

Cloud Imperium Games also experienced employees losing their jobs to layoffs. The company has been making relocation plans, and because of that, layoffs have occurred. No concrete numbers were announced. The studio is crafting the sci-fi MMO Star Citizen and its single-player counterpart, Squadron 42, progressing steadily through the playable alpha.

The Randy Pitchford-led development studio and publisher, known for hits like Borderlands and publishing games like Risk of Rain 2, announced their departure from Embracer group earlier this year. However, they gotpurchased by Take-Two Interactive, joining the 2K Games family.

German video game company Piranha Bytes, known for cult hits like Gothic, Risen, and Elex, was released by Embracer Group. However, in a twist of fate, the studio hasn’t yet shut down. Instead, they are still afloat, trying to land a partner for their upcoming projects.

Truthfully, writing this article was one of the hardest things I had to do. While I desperately hope I won’t have to come back and add more layoffs, the current state of the video game industry tells me that we are far from done.

Meet Sampad, Beebom’s in-house video game enthusiast and writer. With two years of freelance experience, he has passionately crafted articles about the games he loves. You can find his writings on Sportskeeda, Gamingbolt, and GGTalks.

During work hours, he covers the latest gaming news, creates how-to guides, and occasionally shares video game reviews. In his free time, he enjoys building Gundam model kits, planning his next cosplay, and play his favorite RPG games.