Omdia’s Post

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.

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!

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

#AI, Layoffs and AI sour annual Game Developers Conference Despite the sunny spring skies in San Francisco this week, the mood among nearly 30,000 video game industry professionals was gloomy as they descended upon the city for the yearly Game Developers Conference (GDC). Some were so frustrated with the state of affairs in their business that they organized a group screaming session in a park.   “Those of us who have a job and can afford to be here are going through the motions and trying to have a good time,” said Maxi Molina, a game developer attending the event from Spain. “But the vibe is rancid in the industry right now.”   The gaming industry saw more than 10,000 workers laid off in 2023, up from 8,500 in 2022, according to the Game Industry Layoffs project, which tracks game developer and publisher job losses globally. Layoffs have hit studios ranging in size from tiny independent game publishers to titans of the industry like Fortnite maker Epic Games, which laid off 830 employees in September 2023; Microsoft, which cut 1,900 employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox in January; and Sony, which announced in February it was laying off 900 people globally across its studios. The trend is only accelerating, with 2,000 games industry professionals losing their jobs in February – a five-time increase year over year, according to the layoff tracker.   #AI, #RB https://lnkd.in/eaKWuZK4

Today I want to shed light on the heroes of our gaming community. Folks I am addressing here have been dedicating their invaluable time to help more than 330k individuals displaced by the cycle of layoffs since Jan'23 last year. 🙏 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘃, 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿, 𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘀, 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝗯 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗼 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁. ~Jordan Mazer~ A best-in-class jobs compiler currently, Jordan has had hardcore experience in recruiting for Scopely & Riot Games. Other than helping the community with connecting devs to studios, he is even invested in transforming employees into founders and sharing perceptions on how gaming companies can be funded the most efficiently. ~Amir Satvat~ Amir is a highly active person who strongly believes in the essence of community that video games provide. He is very diligent when it comes to displaying & updating fresh career opportunities with regular insights on breaking into the games industry. As a business development director for Tencent Games, Amir thrives to build a genuine ecosystem of games community because as you can see his passion for his work talks wonders. ~Caitlin Cooke~ Another efficient games enthusiast, Caitlin curates and uploads game careers across the industry frequently. She has worked for Google and GitHub previously to acquire talent for them which has resulted in her growing tech startups with the best talent. ~Alex Gombos~ (laid off recently herself yet compiles jobs to help the community) Alex was recently the talent acquisition manager for Sony Interactive Entertainment itself. With a decade's worth of experience in recruiting for various roles and functions across the games industry, Alex is a lively person always excited about building a strong society of video game talent. ~Victoria Sini~ A Women in Games Ambassador, Victoria is a talent lead who is also a gamer. She is proud of Studiotypes, the company she recruits for, and other than hiring and posting brand-new jobs she helps set up teams from scratch, plus with her company, supports scale-up rounds too. ~Hailey Rojas~ Hailey is highly passionate about game design. As a project manager and a leader in building the games community, you can expect Hailey to provide you with the latest and most recent jobs all the while staying toe-to-toe about current video game trends. Is your company or any studio that you know actively hiring? Or maybe you were impacted by the layoffs? 🙌 Here is a list of valuable resources compiled together to ease the processes of hiring and applying for studios and game devs respectively across the video game community - https://lnkd.in/gFCQQV9r #layoffsupport

Those who want to join the video game industry must prepare for the possibility that they may have no job security. There has been a massive amount of layoffs in the past recent years, primarily starting after the pandemic. These layoffs have been seen in almost every major gaming company like Microsoft, Riot Games, Unity, Activision-Blizzard, and more. As Nooney pointed out, "This kind of cyclical hiring and firing behavior has been part of the game industry for decades." There are various reasons for these layoffs such as, games failing to create a profit, pandemic overexpansion, and the economy. As someone who intends on joining the industry myself, it is very concerning how little job security I may have. However, I believe that these layoffs in the long-term are not manageable and that the industry will need a massive overhaul. Video games are starting to make more money than other forms of media, however the process behind making them contain many issues that must be addressed. https://lnkd.in/giuP4hC9

It's hard to see this happen all over the world. To those facing layoffs or stepping into the professional arena with hope and potential, enduring rejections without feedback—remember, it's not a reflection of your worth. Don't internalize the setbacks; it's not about you, it's about the circumstances. Your time to shine will come unexpectedly. Stay resilient, believe in your capabilities, and trust that the right opportunity awaits when you least expected. #gamedevelopment #gamedesign #gamingindustry #layoffs #uxresearch #gameartist

Are you a gamer or interested in the video game industry? The recent wave of layoffs has caused some major changes in the industry, and we're just starting to see the effects. Check out this article to learn more about what's happening and join the conversation. #gameaudio #gamesound #gamemusic #gamedev #indiedev #sounddesign #vgm #voiceacting #unlockaudio  

💭 What are your thoughts? The gaming industry has been experiencing layoffs in 2023 for several reasons, including: 💲 Overspending: 💲 According to IGN, overspending by developer studios is a factor in the layoffs. Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney has said that the company has been spending more money than it earns. 📈 Inflation: 📈 Increased inflation has made money more expensive, which means that companies need to reduce their expenditures. 😷 Pandemic-related factors: 😷 Some developers believe that the layoffs are due to the pandemic. As revenue returns to normal levels, many studios are facing harsh realities. 📆 Delayed release dates: 📆 The delay of many games in development means potential revenue sources are pushed back to 2024 or beyond. 👨💼 Labor issues: 👨💼 The industry has long been dealing with labor issues. ⬆ Rising costs: ⬆ Many AAA companies are either overcrowded or overspending. This could be due to rising costs, poor money management, or high salaries for CEOs. #gamingindustry #layoffs2023 #gamingnews #Layoffs #gamingjobs #workforcecorrection #2024 #gaminglayoffs2024 https://lnkd.in/grQVxSzr.

In the year 2023 alone, an estimated 10,000 employees in the gaming industry lost their jobs. Approximately 6,000 more are expected to join them this year. The article provides an intriguing glimpse, delving behind the scenes of the gaming industry. https://lnkd.in/eg-G9PPF #layoffs #gamingindustry