Less than a month into 2024, widespread layoffs continue to hit tech companies hard, especially gaming departments that have expanded to meet pandemic-era demand.
Gaming giants are now scaling back to adapt to a slowing industry that is seeing an estimated 0.6% growth in 2023, compared to 8% growth in 2020. Layoffs have affected an estimated 3,770 gaming professionals so far this year, according to VideoGameLayoffs.com.
Here are the latest developments:
Microsoft plans to lay off 1,900 workers in its gaming division, the company confirmed to Fast Company on Thursday. The announcement comes on the heels of Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, owner of Call of Duty, Diablo and Candy Crush Saga games, last October.
Riot Games announced on Monday that it plans to lay off 530 employees, approximately 11% of its staff. The League of Legends developer cited the need to cut costs after expanding into so many areas and said it plans to focus more closely on its gaming division.
Amazon’s video game streaming platform Twitch laid off more than 500 employees (about 35% of its staff) on January 10, after laying off 400 people last March. Twitch’s uncertain future comes after hours watched on the site increased by 45% between 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic.
Unity, a provider of video game software used by more than a million game creators, announced plans to lay off 1,800 employees (25% of its staff) on January 8, the fourth round of layoffs at the company since July 2022. On November 28, 265 employees were laid off.
This year’s layoffs continue widespread post-pandemic layoffs at gaming companies, affecting an estimated 10,500 jobs in 2023 and 8,500 in 2022, according to VideoGameLayoffs.com.
Fortnite maker Epic Games laid off 830 employees, 16% of its workforce, in September, arguing it needed to cut costs to better cover revenue.
TikTok owner ByteDance laid off hundreds of employees from its failing “Nuverse” gaming division in November after struggling to compete with more popular gaming companies such as NetEase and Tencent.
Roblox laid off 30 people from its talent acquisition team in September, indicating a slowdown in future hiring.
Snap laid off nearly 20% of its more than 6,400 employees in August 2022, many of whom worked to bring app and game development capabilities to Snapchat.