Amir Satvat’s Post

🎮 Big Sales, Big Layoffs in the Video Game Industry Despite achieving record sales and releasing massive games, the video game industry experienced significant layoffs last year, with some studios cutting up to nine percent of their workforce. 🔍 Key Points: - Record sales juxtaposed with significant layoffs. - Studios shedding substantial portions of their workforce.

Another games jobs cut situation today at CI Games as reported by Game Developer's Christopher Kerr and confirmed by the company, saying "This restructure affects approximately 30 roles across production" https://lnkd.in/eHmMFztw Here's where this puts us. I will start exposing these statistics regularly as a reminder of the human cost of these decisions: 100+ games layoffs in 2024 One games layoff situation on average every 1.3 days in 2024 (apologies for getting this inverted in the picture) Over 10,000 games layoffs in 2024 YTD Within 500 cuts of hitting 2023's games layoff number...in May If you were in fact affected by these cuts, I have no words to express my feelings. However, our community has three resource "homes" built to help you: HOME 1 - 🔗 AMIRSATVAT.COM: Our hub offering 15 resources to help you find work, including a fully updated design. - 🔗 Games Org Support Posts: Find a template at AMIRSATVAT.COM (Category 4, Resource 10). If you can provide information from your team (with their consent), I’ll help edit and disseminate the final product, reaching 100,000+ people. These posts are highly effective in increasing visibility and we have done 96 of them. HOME 2 - 🔗 Please visit discord.gg/amirsatvat to join our Discord, a live extension of our community resources. With over 2,700 members, we are in an open-join phase. HOME 3 - 🔗 LinkedIn: Our community here includes over 86,000 members, with 1-3 daily posts offering support and career assistance in the games industry. To our broader community, your involvement makes a difference. Here’s how you can help: - Spread the word: Reshares and comments on this post amplify the visibility of these resources. - Offer support: Utilize the 13 ways listed on AMIRSATVAT.COM under "How You Can Help" to assist, or simply lend an ear or advice on our Discord server. - Join our movement: Volunteer with us at AMIRSATVAT.COM to support our colleagues in the games industry. Our network has facilitated over 1,800 jobs and 33,000 coaching conversations to date and has been visited by over 3,000,000 gamers lifetime. We're committed to providing daily encouragement and support during these challenging times. We will never stop fighting for you!

Some great insight here from my fellow Electronic Arts (EA) alumn, Mike Williams. The video game business is hit driven and inherently risky. Not every bet will pay off, and recognizing that up front is key. As CFO (or other financial leader), there is a balancing act between supporting and challenging business partners. That does require difficult conversations at times, but it is a business after all and only sustainable when the game & market ultimately align. 

Why Are Layoffs Rising in the Games Industry When Profits Are Up? The games industry is in a paradox right now: record-breaking profits and growing audiences, yet widespread layoffs are making headlines. For those of us who remember the 2008 financial crisis, there’s a familiar pattern emerging; one that highlights the risks of short-term thinking but also hints at opportunities for the future. In 2008, we saw major publishers retreat to “core IPs” as a way to weather economic uncertainty. Activision leaned heavily into Call of Duty, growing it into the juggernaut we know today but that came at the expense of studios like Bizarre Creations (Geometry Wars, Blur), which were shuttered. Now in 2024, we’re seeing echoes of that strategy. Warner Bros., for instance, has publicly stated that its gaming future will focus on just four franchises (Mortal Kombat, Harry Potter, DC, and Lord of the Rings). While this approach can secure near-term gains, the cost is often innovation and jobs. Talented developers who worked on experimental or niche projects are left in the cold, and the industry loses out on the creativity and diversity they could have brought to the table. Yet, there’s a silver lining in this cycle. Layoffs, while devastating, often lead to a surge in independent studios and fresh ideas. After 2008, we saw an indie renaissance fueled by the rise of platforms like Steam, Xbox Live Arcade, and eventually mobile. Games like Braid, Limbo, and Super Meat Boy flourished because smaller teams focused on creative risks instead of shareholder expectations. The industry needs both stability and risk-taking to thrive. Yes, Call of Duty and Mortal Kombat pay the bills, but it’s the unexpected gems; the new Among Us, the next Stardew Valley that will move the industry forward. So while it’s painful to watch the same consolidation patterns repeat, history shows us that times like these often spark a resurgence of creativity, diversity, and innovation. My hope is that this challenging moment drives more developers to focus on new ways to play, fresh stories to tell, and platforms yet to be fully explored. I am just heartbroken and worried by just how many talented and wonderful developers we’ll stand to lose to other industries whilst Games adjusts. To the talent impacted by these layoffs: you have the skills and vision to shape the future of gaming. And for those of us watching? Let’s do everything we can to support their journeys.

Interesting point of view and the points made may not be restricted to Gaming only...

My heart is breaking for all of the folks experiencing the gaming industry layoffs. As someone who has dealt with a layoff before, I understand the gut wrenching feeling that comes with it. But trust me when I say, THIS IS NOT THE END OF YOUR STORY. GENUINELY SAYING THIS: if you have experienced a layoff and need any assistance or guidance, PLEASE LET ME KNOW!! As apart of this industry, I am here TO HELP! #videogameindustry #videogames

In light of the recent layoffs in our industry and those who were affected by the layoffs, don’t lose hope or your will. You’ve been part of an amazing journey, creating worlds that people love and get immersed in. You will continue to do great things in the future too. I suggest connecting with leaders around you to keep talking, sharing, and supporting each other. Personally, I would suggest reaching out to Amir Satvat and go through all the initiatives he has put in place to support everyone in the best way possible. I am also gearing up to start a new game development studio, First Ray Games. I am working towards building a studio that not only creates amazing games but also fosters a strong, supportive culture, that is focused on not just protecting but also setting a new way of working together so that the right motivation is set and people at no point feel that they can be discarded. I'd love to jump on a call with experienced industry leaders and those affected by the layoffs to understand how I can do things differently and ensure our future culture protects and supports our team. Let’s connect and discuss how we can create a positive impact together. #gaming #gamingindustry #layoffs #culture #gaming

Tomorrow is Summer Games fest, but I want everyone watching that to remember how much hell the games industry has been through over the past 2 years. SO much that we have our own Wikipedia entry on it now. https://lnkd.in/gdHufBJt in short: over 20k jobs. I was one of those. I know many reading this are too. Many of the games you're going to see were made by studios affected by these layoffs. When it's excused as "necessary for growth", what we know that really means is that the stock didn't go up fast enough, so they inflated it by doing layoffs. If you look through that Wiki list, most of those places were/are profitable. They could afford to keep their people. But it wasn't *enough* for the stock price to have unlimited growth, so they were axed because shareholders think less people = more profits. They aren't capable of long term thinking. The people who make these games are some of the most self-sacrificial people you'll ever meet. For some reason, we're just so dedicated to making the best experiences we can, that we will put ourselves through ridiculous conditions like crunch, relocating our families, taking jobs with no benefits, taking low pay, working in toxic conditions, tolerating aggressively negative player feedback, and so on. People think working in games is fun and "so cool" and it is, but it's also a hell of a lot of work that rarely is acknowledged by the people playing them. So please, as you watch the barrage of advertisements tomorrow, take a moment to think about the developers who went through hell to get those made, and are still going through hell as I type this. And we're not even saving lives or risking our own like public workers or armed forces, we're just trying to give people fun experiences. It should be better than this. I hope for everyone's sake that it is, again.