HR / Company news

In the past year, gaming companies from California have been particularly active in conducting layoffs. Journalist Stephen Totilo, in his Game File newsletter, noted that this state was responsible for about a third of all gaming industry personnel reductions in 2024

Last month, it was revealed that Sony is in talks to acquire Kadokawa, a Japanese media conglomerate whose subsidiaries include FromSoftware. Bunshun reported that employees at Kadokawa are hopeful for a successful outcome of the deal.

The Polish game development company, People Can Fly, has revealed additional layoffs impacting over 120 employees

The Polish company People Can Fly has decided to focus more on developing games in partnership with other companies. Examples include Project Gemini, which they are working on with Square Enix, and Project Maverick, being developed with the support of Microsoft.

Enish is a Japanese mobile studio known for games like De:Lithe Last Memories and Attack on Titan: Brave Order. They decided to give employees an unpleasant New Year's surprise by reducing part of their staff

Deck Nine, the developer behind "Life is Strange: True Colors," has implemented an undisclosed number of layoffs

IllFonic has joined the long list of gaming companies that are downsizing their staff. The layoffs were announced by the studio's CEO and co-founder, Charles Brungardt, on social media

Marketing expert Raj Patel has calculated that since the beginning of the year, gaming companies have announced layoffs of nearly 17,000 people. This number significantly exceeds the figures from the past few years

Torn Banner Studios announced a restructuring. As part of this, the studio laid off an unspecified number of employees

Torn Banner Studios, a developer based in Toronto, has reduced its workforce, though the specific number of employees affected has not been disclosed.

Ubisoft revealed plans to discontinue XDefiant in 2025, leading to the shutdown of two production studios and impacting nearly 300 employees with layoffs

Ubisoft announced its decision to shut down XDefiant. The shooter has already disabled new user registrations and the ability to make in-game purchases with real money, and its servers will cease operations on June 3, 2025

Update: NetEase informed GamesIndustry.biz that employees have not been laid off but rather reassigned to different departments

NetEase has laid off part of its staff, according to Chinese media reports. The layoffs reportedly took place at the Shenzhen office and primarily affected developers working on the mobile shooter Operation Apocalypse (天启行动)

In the past six months, the creators of Star Citizen have raised an additional $50 million through a crowdfunding campaign. As a result, by the morning of November 29, the total funding for the game's development reached $751.3 million. However, it is reported that things are not going well at Cloud Imperium Games.

The unions of several Ubisoft studios in Barcelona have protested against the company management, reports GamesIndustry. They have filed a lawsuit against Ubisoft due to the partial cancellation of remote work: starting in September, all employees are required to spend at least three days a week in the office.

The American indie studio Heart Machine has conducted layoffs. The studio shared this information with the portal Game Developer

The third news of layoffs today. Next up is Reflector Entertainment, the studio that developed the action-adventure game Unknown 9: Awakening

At the end of October, it became known that AppLovin and its subsidiary game studio Machine Zone had downsized some of their staff. The number of employees who lost their jobs was not disclosed at that time, but the portal SFGATE found these figures in a statement filed by AppLovin with the California state authorities last week

British publisher Kwalee recently laid off at least ten employees, according to the MobileGamer portal. The layoffs reportedly took place primarily in the marketing department

In 2024, half of the gaming companies in the UK faced challenges in filling job vacancies because of skill shortages in the industry

Over 500 employees decided to leave NCSOFT as part of its voluntary retirement program, according to the Yonhap News, citing industry sources

The Chinese mobile development studio Lilith Games has laid off several dozen employees, according to the portal GameLook.

The Swedish holding company Thunderful Group announced its second restructuring this year. The previous one took place at the beginning of 2024 and resulted in the layoff of 20% of the staff.

Payload Studios has confirmed that it let go of several more employees last week. The exact number of layoffs is unknown.

WN Academy and WN Talents announced the online event "One Step Ahead: HR Strategies for 2025." This conference aims to shed light on the situation in the gaming job market and address the challenges companies face in the HR sector.

Tencent confirmed to PocketGamer that it has carried out layoffs at the London office of the studio Sharkmob. The exact number of employees affected has not been disclosed

Overview:

Game companies have been cutting costs this entire year, and October was no exception. Even the most conservative estimates show that there were over 400 layoffs last month.

According to the recent Big Games Industry Employment Survey, about 15% of workers in Europe's gaming sector who were let go in 2023/2024 have since secured new employment, while 6.2% remain unemployed and continue to look for work.

In the gaming sector, Netflix is once again shifting its priorities: the company is now focusing on developing games using generative AI. The creation of a new division, GenAI for Games, was announced by its vice president, Mike Verdu, who previously led Netflix Games.

In its gaming division, Netflix is once again shifting priorities: the company will now focus on developing games using generative AI. The creation of the new GenAI for Games unit was announced by its vice president, Mike Verdu, who previously led Netflix Games

The Communications Workers of America (CWA, the union for communications workers in the U.S.) criticized Sony for closing Firewalk Studios and Neon Koi, accusing it of attempting to strengthen its monopolistic position in the market

Ubisoft reported its results for the first half of 2025 (ending September 30). Below are the key financial indicators of the company

ProbablyMonsters has reduced its workforce by approximately 50 employees

GameSpot, a media outlet owned by Fandom, has initiated a new series of layoffs today

As of November 5, 2024, sources familiar with the situation informed GamesIndustry.biz that Inflexion has carried out layoffs affecting more than 50 individuals. The company was required to notify the Canadian government about this round of redundancies. It is reported that approximately 58 employees remain, excluding support staff. The layoffs have touched most departments within the studio, including QA, concept art, and narrative, with certain teams purportedly facing complete elimination.

Fingersoft, the mobile development company based in Finland, has reduced its workforce by 14 employees.

Tencent has refuted reports of mass layoffs that were rumored to affect hundreds of employees in its video game division. Instead, the Chinese tech giant shared information about changes in its leadership.

Following a series of rumors about layoffs and reorganization at Tencent's subsidiaries, TiMi Studio Group and LightSpeed Studios, the corporation officially stated that this information is false

Tencent has dismissed speculation regarding layoffs and restructuring; however, the company has acknowledged that there have been several significant leadership changes.

AppLovin and its subsidiary Machine Zone (known for Game of War and Mobile Strike) have conducted a series of layoffs

NCSOFT, known for Throne and Liberty and Lineage, has announced significant internal changes, including a reduction in staff.

Netflix has reportedly closed its in-house studio focused on AAA games. The team, made up of industry veterans, has been disbanded after two years.

The team will focus on creating multiplayer games or, as the founders put it, "games worth sharing"

The union representing employees at Don't Nod in France is urging workers to go on strike due to a "reorganisation" plan that threatens up to 69 positions.

More than 700 employees of Ubisoft France have initiated a three-day strike, protesting issues related to remote work and salary concerns

The French company DON’T NOD is not doing well. In light of declining financial performance, it has announced further business restructuring. This will lead to layoffs

A month ago, Ubisoft required employees to work from the office at least three days a week. Many people strongly disliked this requirement

Riot Games is conducting a new round of layoffs, the second one this year. During this, the League of Legends team will lose 27 employees, while the publishing division will see five employees let go.