With every new year, new games are bound to pop up on everyone’s radar, but there’s a bad side. Each year that passes, more layoffs occur in the video game industry, with no end in sight.
Not only are people losing jobs, but even game studios are shutting down because of these layoffs everywhere. What happened to cause this, and is there any way to possibly stop it before it’s too late for gaming?
What Possibly Started Layoffs in the Video Game Scene?
Many fingers can be pointed at everything regarding layoffs in the video game industry. Moreover, the companies themselves may be assisting in it. From toxic workspaces to terrible sales, is there even really one reason we can put the blame on, or multiple?
I want to bring up that when layoffs skyrocketed, which was in the first quarter of 2022, a lot happened. Layoffs from classic game studios weren’t even spared; some shut down after years, like layoffs at Naughty Dog, for example.
War between two countries, causing game studios in them to slow down or even shut down, helped with this. While I won’t get into that, it caused Wargaming’s departure from a country, with more than 1000 people losing their jobs.
External Factors Related to Layoffs in the Video Game Market
Another critical impact was inflation in some places. It has reached up to a 10% increase in price for food in the US alone. With the price of things rising, some gaming companies chose to have layoffs. This is done to be able to continue making games at the same price.
Another heavy hitter would be the mass displacement of people around the world in 2022 for many reasons. Most were caused by natural disasters and ongoing conflicts at the time that are still impacting the industry today.
Even though those are a few of the major reasons, there’s more hidden within that that may be hidden. Companies paying people to leave or even to stay quiet about abuse may also contribute to the layoffs.
An example is Blizzard, whose former workers said it was like a ‘frat house’ inside the company. Many said there wasn’t just harassment from upper management, but even sexual harassment. This led to them being sued in California.
Unfinished and rushed games are also a problem in the video game industry. This problem has made companies lose money and may lead to layoffs of the team that worked on it. Sometimes, it’s not even the team’s fault, with them being given short deadlines and impossible tasks as a cover to fire them.
