The global games industry, which expanded explosively during the COVID-19 pandemic, is continuing its fifth consecutive year of heavy workforce reductions following the shift to the endemic phase in 2022. Although a temporary slowdown last year led to observations that restructuring had entered its final stages, layoff figures crossed 10,000 once again in 2026 as major publishers consolidated studios and cut development budgets.
According to figures compiled as of October 10 by the "ASGC Games Industry Layoffs Tracker"—operated by Amir Satvat, General Partner at 1Up Ventures (and former Tencent Games Director)—the cumulative global games industry layoffs over the five-year period from 2022 through the end of 2026 are estimated to reach a total of 57,640 people. Confirmed annual totals rose from approximately 8,500 in 2022 to around 10,500 in 2023, before hitting an all-time peak of 15,631 in 2024.
Layoffs entered a breathing space in 2025 as figures fell to 9,197, but by the end of September 2026, 10,512 people had already been laid off (132 cases and 10,581 people as of October 10), surpassing last year's full-year total ahead of time. The tracker's full-year layoff projection for 2026 stands at 13,812.
2022–2024: Liquidating Pandemic Overinvestment and the M&A Aftermath
During the five-year pandemic boom period from 2017 to 2021, the global games industry saw a net gain of approximately 150,000 new jobs. Driven by the contactless boom, player playtime and revenues surged, while low interest rates fueled massive expansions in major mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as well as new game projects.
However, in 2022, the transition back to normal life coupled with interest rate hikes halted this expansion phase. Around 8,500 people lost their jobs that year as Square Enix sold off Western studios including Crystal Dynamics and Eidos-Montréal, and Unity carried out its first layoff (approximately 200 employees).
The brunt of the restructuring hit in 2023 (approximately 10,500 people) and 2024 (15,631 people). Sweden's Embracer Group, which had aggressively acquired dozens of development studios, saw a $2 billion (approx. 2.7 trillion won) investment deal collapse, leading it to shut down Volition (developer of 'Saints Row') and Free Radical Design starting in 2023, sell off Gearbox Software, and lay off more than 1,400 employees. Epic Games (830 employees, 16%), EA (approx. 800 employees), and Amazon Games also joined the wave of cuts in 2023.
Reaching a peak in 2024, platform holders and engine creators initiated widespread layoffs. After completing its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft (MS) laid off 1,900 employees in January of that year, closed Arkane Austin ('Redfall') and Tango Gameworks ('Hi-Fi Rush') in May, and cut an additional 650 positions in September, shedding over 2,500 jobs in a single year. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) also eliminated more than 1,100 roles, starting with 900 cuts (8%) in February that included closing London Studio, followed by additional layoffs at Bungie (220 employees) and the closure of Firewalk Studios, developer of 'Concord', which shut down service just two weeks after launch. That same year, Unity (1,800 employees, 25%), Riot Games (530 employees, 11%), EA (670 employees), and Take-Two Interactive (approx. 600 employees) also undertook major restructurings.
2025–2026: 'Tentpole Restructuring' and Post-Launch Layoffs Follow a Temporary Lull
In 2025, annual layoffs fell by approximately 41% year-over-year to 9,197 people. However, project-level cancellations and studio closures continued, as Warner Bros. Games shut down three internal studios including Monolith Productions (developer of 'Wonder Woman'), and Microsoft closed developer The Initiative while canceling the 'Perfect Dark' reboot and 'Everwild' as part of company-wide cuts totaling 9,100 positions.
Re-crossing the 10,000 threshold in just one year, layoffs in 2026 show a high concentration among a small number of major corporations and within North America and Europe. According to the ASGC tracker, 96% of layoff events this year occurred in North America (67%, or 79% by affected personnel) and Europe (30%), with the top five largest layoffs accounting for 51% of all terminated employees.
Microsoft and Epic Games accounted for the largest shares. Microsoft's Xbox division announced in July that it would reduce a total of 3,200 jobs by mid-2027, laying off approximately 1,600 employees that day, and cut an additional 268 roles in September across Halo Studios and other teams. In the process, it extensively consolidated its internal organizations, spinning off Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Undead Labs while initiating the closure of Ninja Theory. Epic Games also laid off over 1,000 employees—about 20% of its workforce—in March, citing slowing growth for 'Fortnite' and rising cost pressures.
SIE closed remake specialist developer Bluepoint Games (approx. 70 employees) in February this year, followed by laying off roughly 400 additional personnel—half of its workforce—at Bungie in June. Ubisoft also eliminated around 185 jobs in January, including the closure of its Halifax studio, and cut about 380 positions in June with the closure of its Winnipeg and Belgrade studios. On October 14, it issued notices for the proposed closure of Finland-based RedLynx (up to 52 positions) and a reduction of 70 positions at its Singapore studio.
This year was particularly marked by consecutive cases of headcount reductions immediately following successful title launches—such as EA cutting staff across four studios after releasing 'Battlefield 6', or Ubisoft Singapore facing layoffs despite leading development on 'Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced', which sold over 3.5 million copies after launching in July. In his keynote at gamescom dev in September, Amir Satvat pointed out, "With 50 to 60% of total games industry revenues concentrated in the top 20 live-service games, the vast majority of studios are simultaneously facing the pressure of rising development costs and extreme revenue concentration."
Five Years in the Korean Games Industry: From 'Panic Hiring' Bills to Voluntary Retirement and AI Efficiency
The Korean games industry followed a similar trajectory in the immediate aftermath of the pandemic. In 2021, amidst intense competition to secure talent, major game companies collectively raised salaries and launched massive open recruitments for both experienced and entry-level developers. However, starting in the second half of 2022, underperformance of new releases combined with heavy fixed labor costs forced a pivot toward austerity.
While explicit announcements of outright layoffs were rarer than in Western markets, subsidiary liquidations, recommended resignations, and voluntary redundancy programs took full effect beginning in 2023. Throughout 2023 and 2024, workforce adjustments and voluntary retirement programs continued across LINE Games, Com2uS and its metaverse subsidiary Com2Verse, Devsisters, and Netmarble subsidiaries. Meanwhile, Smilegate, Wemade, and Kakao Games also scaled back non-core new business units such as metaverse and blockchain initiatives.
The biggest watershed moment for domestic restructuring was NCSoft's organizational overhaul in 2024. Conducting its first large-scale voluntary retirement program in 26 years since its founding alongside the spin-off of four subsidiaries in 2024, NCSoft reduced its headquarters workforce from 4,886 employees at the start of 2024 to 3,170 by late 2025—a 35.1% reduction (1,716 employees). Nexon also shut down 'KartRider: Drift' in late 2025, initiating voluntary redundancy and corporate bankruptcy proceedings for its development subsidiary, Nitro Studio.
Entering 2026, workforce reductions in the domestic gaming industry are proceeding not only as emergency management measures to defend earnings, but also in tandem with operational efficiency gains driven by artificial intelligence (AI) adoption. Krafton, despite breaking its all-time earnings records, completed voluntary redundancies for approximately 200 employees by the first half of this year through a company-wide 'voluntary exit option program' introduced late last year, continuing its push for AI-centric organizational efficiency and restricted hiring. Immediately after swinging to a loss in Q1 of this year, Devsisters initiated company-wide voluntary retirements and an unpaid executive policy in May, while NHN decided on the 13th to shut down its open-beta title 'Darkest Days' in November prior to its official release.
As employment instability drags on into its fifth year, re-employment struggles for developers are deepening. According to the 'GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry' report released in January of this year, 48% of global developers laid off in the past two years (and 36% of those laid off for more than a year) have yet to find employment, while domestically, large-scale open hiring drives for developers have virtually vanished, with the job market reorganizing around selective experienced hires and internal reassignments.
