The scale of the past year of videogame layoffs is a hard thing to wrap your head around. We're confronted with more big numbers almost every week: the latest "regrettable" cuts made by this or that gaming company in the name of staying "agile and competitive." The announcements blur together and the numbers become talking points, but within each statistic are scores of intimate miniature apocalypses: someone's livelihood, maybe their dream job or first break in this competitive industry, dashed against the wall.
The causes of this recent industry contraction include studio consolidation, tightened margins after an early Covid-era boom, and good old fashioned corporate greed. Today, we're just focusing on the personal impact: a snapshot of the industry crisis from January 2023 through January '24 with testimonies from some of the people who lost their jobs.
