One third of US games industry workers were laid off in the last 2 years, GDC survey says

An attendee sits next to a "GDC" sign inside an exhibition hall during the Game Developers Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. The weeklong video game industry conference is San Francisco's biggest convention since public health orders upended the events business two years ago, reported the San Francisco Chronicle.

The organizers of GDC have released its 2026 State of the Game Industry Report, detailing the results of its annual self-reported survey of games industry professionals. The data provided by over 2,300 respondents offered a grim image of industry layoffs, as 28% of surveyed games industry workers reported that they had been laid off in the past two years.

That percentage was even higher in the United States, where 33% of respondents said they'd been laid off during the same period.