The gaming industry spent 2025 hemorrhaging talent, and a new Game Developers Conference report just confirmed what we all knew: it's bad out there.
According to the 2026 State of the Game Industry Report, 33% of U.S. video game workers report being laid off in the past two years. Let that sink in. One in three people who make the games we love got shown the door. Globally, the number drops to 28%, which somehow doesn't feel better.
Here's the kicker: 50% of surveyed professionals say their current or recent employer conducted layoffs within the past 12 months. If you work in games right now, you've either been laid off or watched your coworkers get laid off. There's no third option.
AAA studios got hit the hardest. Two-thirds of AAA employees experienced layoffs at their companies. Indie studios fared slightly better at one-third, but "slightly better" still means watching your friends clean out their desks.
The report surveyed over 2,300 gaming industry professionals - developers, marketers, executives, investors. These aren't hypothetical numbers. These are real people with mortgages and families and dreams of making the next Hollow Knight or Elden Ring.
And workers are pissed. 82% of U.S. respondents support unionization of gaming workers. Among workers earning under $200,000 annually? That jumps to 87%. Among those who got laid off? 88%. Here's my favorite stat: zero respondents aged 18-24 opposed unionization. The next generation sees what's happening and they're not buying the "we're all family here" corporate nonsense.
Look, I get it. The industry expanded during the pandemic, revenue projections didn't materialize, studios overextended. But when you're laying off a third of your workforce while executives take home millions and ship broken games with $70 price tags and battle passes, you lose the right to call it "unfortunate market corrections."
This is a crisis. Not of profitability - gaming made over $180 billion globally in 2025 - but of priorities. We're choosing shareholder value over the people who actually make the games.
The GDC Festival of Gaming runs March 9-13, 2026 in San Francisco. I wonder how many panels will address this. I wonder how many empty chairs there'll be from developers who can't afford the ticket because they got laid off.
Verdict: The industry needs to decide what it values more - quarterly earnings reports or the talent that built this medium. Right now, the scoreboard isn't looking great.
