The numbers are worse than anyone wanted to admit.
According to the 2026 State of the Game Industry Report from GDC, one-third of U.S. video game workers were laid off over the past two years. That's not a typo. 33% of the people who make your favorite games got pink-slipped. And here's the part that should make your blood boil: half of all respondents said their current or former employer conducted layoffs in the past 12 months alone.
This isn't "restructuring." This isn't "right-sizing." This is an industry eating its own.
The survey, which pulled from over 2,300 gaming professionals—developers, marketers, execs, investors—paints a picture of an industry in crisis. And if you work at a AAA studio, it's even grimmer: two-thirds of respondents at major studios experienced company layoffs. Indie devs aren't safe either, with one-third reporting the same bloodbath.
Let's be real here. These aren't just statistics. These are people who spent years learning Unreal Engine, who crunched 80-hour weeks to ship your game on time, who poured their creativity into worlds you've spent hundreds of hours exploring. And the industry thanked them with a severance package and a LinkedIn recommendation.
The workers are done with this. The report found that 82% of U.S. respondents now support unionization of game industry workers. That number jumps to 88% among people who've been laid off in the past two years. Among workers under 45, it's 86%. And here's the kicker: not a single respondent aged 18-24 opposed unionization. Zero. That's not apathy—that's a generational shift.
Support is strongest among workers earning under $200,000 annually (87%), which, let's be honest, is most people in this industry. The ones at the top making bank? They're the ones who don't have to worry about whether they can pay rent next month.
I've covered this industry for six years. I've seen studios shut down the day after shipping critically acclaimed games. I've watched talented devs cycle through three companies in as many years—not because they wanted to, but because the studios kept imploding. This isn't sustainable. This isn't normal. And it sure as hell isn't healthy.
The games industry loves to talk about "passion." About how lucky we are to work on games. But passion doesn't pay the bills. Passion doesn't give you health insurance. And passion definitely doesn't protect you when a publisher decides your studio's Metacritic score was two points too low.
The full GDC report is available for free download, and it covers everything from generative AI adoption to development priorities. But the layoff numbers? Those tell you everything you need to know about where this industry is headed if we don't change course.
The real endgame is the friends we made along the way. Just kidding. It's job security. It's healthcare. It's not wondering if you'll have a job after your game ships.
The industry built fortunes on the backs of passionate developers. Maybe it's time those developers got their fair share.
