2022, 2023, and 2024 had some incredible game releases, but when the games industry looks back on the last three years, they’ll be known more for the staggering amount of layoffs and studio closures that occurred in that time.
In GDC’s 2025 State of the Games Industry report, among the developers it surveyed it found that 11% of the developers it questioned were laid off. An unofficial layoff tracker that has been keeping track of the layoffs since 2022 estimates that 14,600 developers were laid off, just in 2024.
Another 10,500 laid off in 2023, and 8,500 in 2022. Some quick math will tell you that’s 33,600 developers in the last three years alone. It’s been an incredibly difficult time for the industry, and these past three years will surely have consequences that’ll be feel in the immediate, and long-term.
Video games are a massive global industry, one that is held together by millions of people around the world who help shape and create the games we all love to play. Unfortunately, it looks like this coming year could be a repeat of the last three, at least based on how it’s already kicked off. You can check out our coverage of every instance of games industry layoffs in 2025, below.
Related News – Every Instance Of Games Industry Layoffs 2024
Every Instance Of Games Industry Layoffs 2025
January
- Microsoft Confirms More Layoffs Across Multiple Divisions, Games Included
- Ubisoft Lays Off Another 185 Developers, Shuts Down Leamington Studio
- Dauntless Developer Phoenix Labs Lays Off “Majority” Of Staff
- Fast Travel Games Lays Of 30 Members of Staff, Consolidates Studio Down To One Core Development Team
- BioWare Is Downsizing Its Core Development Team For The Next Mass Effect, “We Don’t Require Support From The Full Studio”
- Sony Bend Studio Has Reportedly Cut An Unknown Number Of Contractors Following The Cancellation Of Its Live-Service Game
- Midnight Society, The Studio Co-Founded By Dr. Disrespect Has Shut Down
February
- Rumbleverse Developer Iron Galaxy Studios Lays Off 66 People In An Effort To “Enable Our Long-Term Survival”
- VR Developer nDreams Shuts Down Two Internal Studios While Opening One New Studio
- SMITE Publisher Hi-Rez Studios Has Reportedly Cut “Dozens” Of Developers Across SMITE 2’s Team
- Bandai Namco Staff Numbers Have Reportedly Gone Down By More Than 100 Developers Between April 2024 And February 2025