One third of US games industry workers were laid off in the last 2 years, GDC survey says

The organizers of GDC have released its 2026 State of the Game Industry Report, detailing the results of its annual self-reported survey of games industry professionals. The data provided by over 2,300 respondents offered a grim image of industry layoffs, as 28% of surveyed games industry workers reported that they had been laid off in the past two years.

That percentage was even higher in the United States, where 33% of respondents said they'd been laid off during the same period.

17% of surveyed games industry workers reported having been laid off in just the last 12 months, while half of respondents said their current or most recent employer had conducted layoffs in the last year.

The survey results indicate that widespread layoffs remain a persistent issue in the games industry, having intensified during the transition into the post-pandemic era and the fallout of industry expansion and acquisition. More than 16,000 games industry workers lost their jobs between January 2023 and January 2024.

2025 offered little reassurance that the losses would stabilize as job cuts continued at major companies like Microsoft, which dramatically downsized its gaming division while laying off over 9,000 employees even as it boasted a year of "record performance" in increased revenue and operating income. And in the first month of 2026, we've already seen more downsizing, as Ubisoft announced a massive restructuring which will entail the closure of "several studios."

Respondents to the GDC survey also report difficulty in finding new employment following a layoff. Nearly half—48%—of games workers who reported being laid off said they haven't been able to secure another job. Of those who were laid off one to two years ago, 36% say they haven't found other games industry employment.

Asked what's responsible for the years of rampant layoffs suffered by game developers and industry professionals, one respondent told survey organizers that their company's "leadership failed to see that the Covid-era boom was not permanent, [and the] company went on an acquisition spree before being acquired. Now, money is a lot tighter because the goldfish with the money want returns yesterday so they can funnel it into the current fad (genAI)."

"I feel like this question implies there's a justified reason for layoffs at large studios," another respondent said, "which I can assure you there almost always is not."

Unsurprisingly, the scale of widespread layoffs hasn't inspired confidence in those hoping to make their own entry into the industry. Of the 50 students surveyed for the report, 74% reported that they were worried about their prospects in the industry due to fears about competing with laid-off workers with greater experience and the impact of AI adoption.

87% of surveyed educators, meanwhile, either expect that their students will struggle to find employment after graduation or have already seen those expectations confirmed.

"There aren't any jobs. Everyone's getting fired," one student respondent said. "It's fucked."