HR / Company news

Protests organized by the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) took place outside the London and Edinburgh offices of Rockstar North and Take-Two Interactive. These demonstrations occurred following allegations of union busting.

The Japanese company announced such plans in a presentation dedicated to its medium-term business strategy.

Square Enix is undertaking a "fundamental restructuring" that involves diverting resources from its "overseas" development studios, potentially jeopardizing more than 100 jobs.

GTA developers faced a wave of layoffs. The British union Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) reported that Rockstar Games parted ways with approximately 30-40 employees in the UK and Canada.

GTA developers have been hit by a wave of layoffs. The British union, Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), reported that Rockstar Games let go of around 30-40 employees in the UK and Canada

Heart Machine studio has carried out another round of layoffs, reports Game Developer, citing posts from laid-off employees on social media.

Heart Machine, a studio located in Los Angeles, has initiated another series of layoffs, marking what is believed to be the second instance this month.

Yesterday, on October 28, Amazon officially announced plans to lay off 14,000 people. The company did not publicly specify whether employees from its gaming division would be among those laid off, but Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier claims that they will be—and in large numbers.

Amazon Corporation is set to announce a significant round of layoffs today, according to sources from Reuters and Bloomberg. As reported, up to 30,000 employees will lose their jobs.

The Amazon Corporation is set to announce a major round of layoffs today, according to sources from Reuters and Bloomberg. They report that up to 30,000 employees will lose their jobs.

Valnet has made reductions to TheGamer's editorial staff, which include the removal of the "entire TheGamer features team along with several other employees"

Rovio has revealed plans to lay off 36 staff members due to the underperformance of Angry Birds Dream Blast.

Current and former employees of the Spanish studio MercurySteam have complained to the publication 3DJuegos about an unhealthy atmosphere in the company. They reported tougher working conditions, overtime, and layoffs.

Heart Machine, a studio located in Los Angeles, has revealed an undisclosed number of layoffs.

The studio Heart Machine announced a new wave of layoffs. This was due to "circumstances beyond control" and, as a result, the decision to end work on the action-roguelike game Hyper Light Breaker

Employees of the British branch of ZA/UM have formed a union called the ZA/UM Workers' Alliance. This is the first officially recognized union of its kind in a game studio in the country

Starbreeze Entertainment has decided to discontinue Project Baxter, which was intended to be a Dungeons & Dragons games-as-a-service title.

Although Dune: Awakening showed the best launch sales in Funcom's history, it didn't save its developers from layoffs. The studio announced a restructuring

Oslo-based game developer Funcom, known for its recent release Dune: Awakening, has revealed plans to reduce its workforce.

Tomorrow, on October 2, the GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit will commence. The event will feature over 60 leaders and studios from the industry who will offer their perspectives and guidance on managing the current challenges facing the sector.

Vizor Games has laid off some employees from its Minsk office. In a conversation with the portal dev.by, the dismissed specialists revealed that more than two dozen people lost their jobs, mostly artists.

The GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit is scheduled for tomorrow, October 2. Over 30 industry leaders and studios will provide their insights and guidance on managing a challenging time in the industry

Electronic Arts' (EA) decision to sell to a group of investors has concerned BioWare employees, Insider Gaming reports. According to the source, the studio is anticipating mass layoffs.

Kevin McCoy from Next Jump and Simon Sparks of GameDataCore are scheduled to lead a roundtable during the GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit taking place this week

Niki Head, serving as the people and development director at Stellar Entertainment Software, along with Chiara Santevecchi, the founder and CEO of Teem Camp, are set to participate in a panel discussion on AI at the forthcoming GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit

Sarah Brewster, the founder of the people and culture consultancy Fresh Seed, has been announced as the newest speaker for the GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit scheduled for October 2, 2025

The studio is called Cheer Games.

Gina Jackson from Skillfull and Liz Prince, business manager at Amiqus, are set to lead a session at the GamesIndustry.biz HR Summit scheduled for next month

Hideki Kamiya, the head of Clovers Studio and chief game designer, expresses "a very strong responsibility" to safeguard the studio amid the current wave of industry layoffs

The release of Balatro's version 1.1 has been postponed indefinitely. According to the game's creator, LocalThunk, they have resumed development of the game "as a hobbyist."

Ubisoft experienced minor layoffs. In a statement to the media, the company said it parted ways with nine employees as part of a restructuring that resulted from the establishment of a new subsidiary in collaboration with Tencent.

Layoffs continue to be widespread across the gaming industry, with Amir Satvat offering further details on the regions most impacted. Over 50% of these job cuts are occurring in California

Firaxis Games has lost some of its employees. The layoffs were first reported on social media by the affected developers themselves and later confirmed by 2K Games, the studio's parent company.

2K has announced a "reduction" in the workforce at Firaxis, the studio behind Civilization and XCOM.

At the end of August, it became known that Dreamhaven, the company co-founded by Blizzard's Mike Morhaime, was switching to an austerity mode. As it has now emerged, one of the consequences of this decision has been mass layoffs.

Mike Morhaime, the co-founder and CEO of Dreamhaven, has revealed that the company is undertaking a series of layoffs within the developer and publisher.

Another union has formed at Blizzard Entertainment. This time, it's been created by specialists working on the Diablo series of games.

Crystal Dynamics studio announced a new round of layoffs on LinkedIn. This time, they did not disclose the number of affected employees

Crystal Dynamics has announced layoffs, citing "evolving business conditions" as the reason for letting go of "a number of talented colleagues"

Rec Room, the studio that developed the eponymous social sandbox reminiscent of Roblox, announced significant layoffs. The company has decided to part ways with nearly half of its staff—about 100 people.

In July, Microsoft executed mass layoffs that also affected developers from King. As discovered by the MobileGamer portal, King did not part on good terms with all of the laid-off employees. At least some of the former employees are planning to file a lawsuit against the company.

The recruitment agency WN Talents conducted a survey of game studios about the hiring situation. According to the responses received, more than half of the studios experienced a more complicated approval process for hiring budgets over the past year. Marina Lopatina, the business development director of the agency, provided more details about the situation to App2Top

The CEO of Frost Giant Studios, Tim Morten, does not rule out the possibility of layoffs at his studio. The reason for this is the weak launch of the strategy game Stormgate

It was recently revealed that layoffs have taken place at the Cloud Chamber studio, but the number of people affected wasn't disclosed. Now, Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier has uncovered the scale. According to his information, more than 80 people have lost their jobs.

Unknown Worlds has filed a lawsuit against former executives Charlie Cleveland, Adam McGuire, and Ted Gill, citing violations of an equity purchase agreement, an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, an employment agreement, and a "fiduciary duty of care" in their roles as directors

Bithell Games has revealed that the "majority of [its] full-time staff" have been laid off

Employees of Raven Studio, a subsidiary of Microsoft, have voted to ratify the contract between their union and Microsoft itself

The Swedish holding company Thunderful Group is on the brink of bankruptcy. It has announced that in order to protect itself from financial collapse, it is forced to take a series of significant measures, including restructuring

1047 Games has revealed that it is putting its free-to-play FPS, Splitgate 2, "back to beta." The studio also announced that it will face a second round of layoffs as a consequence.

As of July 24, 2025, Sandsoft has issued a clarification regarding its recent restructuring. According to an email communication with GamesIndustry.biz, a company representative stated that the changes impacted "up to 21 employees involved in internal game development."