GDC report finds 54% of laid-off game workers remain unemployed

By Marcus Bennett

The 15th State of the Game Industry Report found that 54% of video game workers laid off during the previous 24 months remain unemployed without finding new work. GDC Festival of Gaming organizers released the report Thursday.

GDC based the survey on responses from more than 2,600 game industry professionals. The sample grew 12% from the previous year, according to GDC. Its findings cover hiring, job searches, workplace technology and platform plans.

Layoffs and company size

The report says: “One in three (34%) respondents have been laid off in the last 24 months, up from 28% in the previous report and the number rises to 39% for U.S.-based respondents.”

Of that group, 68% had been laid off during the previous 12 months, according to the survey.

A separate measure in the survey found that 49% of respondents said their companies had conducted some form of layoffs during the preceding 12 months.

The report separates those figures by company type:

• 68% at AAA studios
• 35% at older indie studios
• 14% at younger indie studios

The gap places the highest reported layoff rate at AAA studios and the lowest at younger indie studios. These figures describe experience reported within the respondent pool. They do not amount to a company-by-company count of redundancies.

Job searches and new work

Overall, 21% of respondents were unemployed, up from 13% in the previous year's report.

Among respondents who found new work, 9% had left the video game industry, while 4% had started their own companies or studios, according to the report.

Job applications among the laid-off group reached substantial levels:

• 62% applied for 20 or more jobs
• 25% applied for 100 or more jobs

The application data shows a broad search for work. It also sharpens the contrast between the volume of vacancies sought and the limited share of laid-off workers who have found another position.

What does this change for game workers?

For game workers, the report offers a clearer measure of two visible pressures: prolonged unemployment and the spread of generative AI at work inside the industry. The report does not establish that AI caused the layoffs. It shows job insecurity and workplace AI use coexisting among surveyed professionals.

Its workplace findings show marked differences by platform and company size:

• 40% use generative AI tools in their jobs, up 4% year over year
• 57% of those users employ the tools daily
• 70% of workers at mobile-only studios use generative AI
• 58% of those working on free-to-play games use it
• 27% of AAA workers feel encouraged or pressured to use generative AI
• 9% of indie studio workers report the same pressure

The policy comparison makes company scale a visible dividing line in reported AI use. Encouragement or pressure separates AAA workplaces from the much smaller share of indie workers who report being pressed to use the tools.

Platform plans

The report finds that 10% of respondents are developing for the next PlayStation and 8% for Xbox’s “Project Helix,” while PC remains the dominant development platform at 81%.

The established console figures also held steady:

• PlayStation 5: 45%
• Xbox Series X/S: 37%

Both results remain consistent with the previous survey.

A revised reporting cycle

The full 15th State of the Game Industry Report is available through GDC, which released this edition earlier than usual in line with its revised schedule.

GDC organizers said: “this edition and reports going forward have been adjusted to release near year’s end, befitting the report’s reflections on the current state of the industry and a snapshot of the year.”

The 41st edition of GDC, now known as the GDC Festival of Gaming, is set for March 1-4, 2027, at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. The next near-year-end edition will offer a direct comparison for unemployment, application volumes and routine AI use before the festival opens.