2023 was a disappointing year for layoffs and looks like 2024 is continuing that trend. The gaming industry has some shakes already, and thus this isn’t a nice sign at all. Regrettably, within the first month of 2024, more than 5,000 workers in the games industry have already experienced job losses. So, let us see the list of companies and the layoffs or shutdowns that happened within them in 2024 that come across as an upset in the gaming industry.
Gaming Industry Layoffs in 2024
From major studios to smaller game development teams, be it mobile or AAA studios, the industry experienced shifts that captured attention and sparked discussions. For the same, we can consider the industry dynamics, economic factors, and any official statements from the companies involved. So, below are the details you need to know about the layoffs in 2024.
| Company | Date | Layoffs | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archiact | Jan 4, 2024 | Unknown | Layoffs announced at VR games developer Archiact, with the company providing support through reverse recruiting. |
| Bossa Studios | Jan 5, 2024 | 19 | 19 layoffs at Bossa Studios, primarily in QA and production roles as well as non-UK employees. |
| Unity | Jan 8, 2024 | 1,800 | Unity confirmed plans to cut nearly 25% of its staff by the end of March, marking the largest layoffs in its history. |
| Twitch | Jan 9, 2024 | 500 | Twitch also laid off 500 employees, around 35% of its total staff. |
| Behaviour Interactive | Jan 9-11, 2024 | 45 | Behaviour Interactive reportedly laid off about 45 people in its Montreal studio, affecting various departments. |
| Playtika | Jan 11, 2024 | 300-400 | Playtika went for a layoff of close to 10% of its workforce. |
| Discord | Jan 11, 2024 | 170 | Discord laid off around 17% of its total staff, citing the need to sharpen focus and improve agility. |
| PTW | Jan 11, 2024 | 45 | PTW laid off about 45 people, mostly QA staffers, citing the need to reduce the workforce in several countries. |
| Lost Boys Interactive | Jan 12, 2024 | 125 | Layoffs at Gearbox-owned Lost Boys Interactive, affecting various disciplines, confirmed former producer via LinkedIn post. |
| Funselektor | Jan 12, 2024 | 3 | Canadian indie studio Funselektor laid off three developers. |
| Double Loop Games | Jan 15, 2024 | Unknown | Double Loop Games shuts down, with the closure announced by Emily Greer, co-founder, in a post on LinkedIn. |
| Netspeak Games | Jan 16, 2024 | 25 | Netspeak Games confirmed laying off 25 people, citing the need to adapt its structure in the challenging gaming industry. |
| Thunderful | Jan 17, 2024 | 100-105 | Thunderful Group announced a restructuring plan, including laying off 20% of its workforce out of 525 current. |
| Pixelberry Studios | Jan 17, 2024 | Unknown | Nexon-owned Pixelberry Studios cut an unknown number of employees, as confirmed by a former employee. |
| Wimo Games | Jan 17, 2024 | 35 | Austin-based Wimo Games closed its doors, laying off 35 people, confirms a former employee via LinkedIn post. |
| CI Games | Jan 18, 2024 | 15-20 | CI Games cuts off around 10% of its staff, impacting employees at Hexworks and Underdog. |
| 31st Union | Jan 18, 2024 | <10 | 31st Union laid off less than 10 employees, as part of ongoing efforts to support the studio. |
| Com2uS | Jan 18, 2024 | Unknown | Com2uS laid off a two-digit number of employees, optimizing projects due to market and management conditions. |
| NCSoft | Jan 18, 2024 | 70 | NCSoft shut down subsidiary Ntreev Soft and laid all 70 of its employees. |
| Netmarble F&C | Jan 19, 2024 | 70 | Netmarble F&C laid off about 70 people in its metaverse-focused subsidiary, citing the need to streamline and cut costs. |
| Little Red Dog Games | Jan 22, 2024 | 27 | Little Red Dog Games shut down, affecting 27 people, with the COO confirming with his LinkedIn post. |
| Riot Games | Jan 22, 2024 | 530 | Riot Games announced cutting 11% of its workforce, primarily due to winding down Riot Forge and reducing Legends of Runeterra development. |
| One Player Mission | Jan 23, 2024 | 15 | OPM announced its closure, affecting 15 employees, due to challenges in the games industry. |
| Reikon Games | Jan 23, 2024 | 60-70 | Reikon Games laid off about 60 to 70 people, around 56% of the total company, citing budget limitations and a sudden reduction in scope for their next game. |
| WarDucks | Jan 23, 2024 | 10 | Mobile game developer WarDucks ended its journey after going out of business. |
| People Can Fly | Jan 24, 2024 | 30+ | People Can Fly laid off over 30 people, citing budget limitations and a shrinking scope for their unannounced game, Project Gemini. |
| Black Forest Games | Jan 24, 2024 | 50 | Black Forest Games cut roughly 50% of its workforce, affecting about 55 employees, with more information promised next week. |
| Microsoft | Jan 25, 2024 | 1,900 | Microsoft laid off 1,900 people, approximately 8.6% of its gaming workforce, across various gaming businesses, including Xbox, Activision Blizzard, and ZeniMax. |
| EA Cologne | Jan 25, 2024 | 20 | Electronic Arts (EA) in Cologne, Germany, disbanded its entire localization department, affecting roughly 20 employees. |
| Chief Rebel | Jan 29, 2024 | 21 | Approximately 21 employees were reportedly laid off at Chief Rebel, a Sweden-based indie studio. |
| Eidos Montreal | Jan 29, 2024 | 97 | Embracer Group lays off 97 Eidos employees while canceling the new Deus Ex game, confirming via their X post. |
| Nimble Giant Entertainment | Jan 30, 2024 | 28 | Another Embracer layoff was reported as Nimble Giant Entertainment laid off 28 employees. |
| Sega of America | Jan 31, 2024 | 61 | Sega of America plans to lay off 61 employees on March 8, affecting two nearby locations on its Irvine campus. |
| Artificer | Jan 31, 2024 | 28 | Devolver confirmed that Artificer, the developer behind Showgunners, is laying off 28 employees. |
| GameSpot | Jan 31, 2024 | Unknown | GameSpot faced a series of layoffs, as indicated by numerous current and former employees sharing the news on social media. |
| Airship Syndicate | Feb 1, 2024 | 12 | Gaming layoffs in Feb of 2024 hit Airship Syndicate as it let go of 12 employees. |
| Threaks | Feb 2, 2024 | 25 | Hamburg-based Threaks ended its journey as confirmed by Engineering Manager Merve Meszaros on LinkedIn. |
| Crop Circle Games | Feb 5, 2024 | 50 | Crop Circle Games reportedly underwent layoffs, impacting its writing, design, and engineering departments. |
| Toys for Bob | Feb 6, 2024 | 86 | Microsoft layoffs affected Bandicoot developer Toys for Bob with the facility closing as well. |
| Sledgehammer Games | Feb 6, 2024 | 76 | Similar to Toys for Bob, Sledgehammer Games were also hit with layoffs. |
| 91Act | Feb 7, 2024 | 60 | 91Act terminated all its employees, and the company’s CEO resorted to mortgaging his property to fulfill severance obligations. |
| Hidden Path Entertainment | Feb 7, 2024 | 44 | The Washington-based game studio laid off 44 employees due to funding challenges for a major RPG project. |
| Visual Concepts Austin | Feb 7, 2024 | Unknown | 2K Games laid off developers at Visual Concepts Austin, known for Lego 2K Drive and NBA 2K. |
| Threshold Games | Feb 9, 2024 | 12 | Indie developer Threshold Games closes its doors, attributing its closure to “extenuating circumstances.” |
| Daybreak Games | Feb 9, 2024 | Unknown | Daybreak Games recently laid off another round of employees, as confirmed via LinkedIn post. |
| Scopely | Feb 9, 2024 | 38 | There are reports of staff laid off from Scopely, mostly from the Kingdom Maker studio. |
| Genvid | Feb 12, 2024 | 14 | Silent Hill makers Genvid underwent another round of layoffs. |
| Blackbird Interactive | Feb 13, 2024 | Unknown | Another set of layoffs reported at Blackbird Interactive, months after 41 people were laid off in August 2023. |
| Noggin | Feb 15, 2024 | Unknown | Paramount Global’s subscription video-on-demand service aimed at young children, called Noggin, is closing down. |
| ZA/UM | Feb 16, 2024 | 24 | ZA/UM, the developer behind Disco Elysium, is said to be considering laying off 24 employees. |
| Activision Ireland | Feb 19, 2024 | 136 | Activision Blizzard might be letting go of some employees at its office in Blackpool, Cork, Ireland. |
| Build A Rocket Boy | Feb 19, 2024 | Unknown | Build A Rocket Boy, the developer is said to have experienced layoffs across all locations. |
| Disruptive Games | Feb 20, 2024 | Unknown | Former employee of Disruptive Games confirmed the layoffs in the company. |
| Mythical Games | Feb 21, 2024 | Unknown | Another round of layoffs in Mythical Games were reported. |
| Gameloft | Feb 22, 2024 | 38+ | Gameloft has initiated global layoffs, affecting staff in both Ukraine and Canada, as confirmed by employees. |
| Electronic Arts Codemasters | Feb 23, 2024 | Unknown | Electronic Arts to downsize few staff following shut down of MLB Tap Sports and F1 Mobile Racing. |
| Supermassive Games Ltd | Feb 26, 2024 | 90 | Supermassive Games Ltd announced the departure of 90 individuals from their team. |
| Die Gute Fabrik | Feb 26, 2024 | 10 | Faced with a funding gap, Die Gute Fabrik, the studio behind Saltsea Chronicles, has halted production. |
| Sony/PlayStation | Feb 27, 2024 | 900 | PlayStation is cutting around 900 jobs globally while intending to shut down its London studio. |
| ESL Faceit Group | Feb 27, 2024 | Unknown (15%) | ESL Faceit Group decided to reduce its workforce by 15%, just two years following its merger valued at $1.5 billion. |
| Deck Nine Games | Feb 27, 2024 | 30 | Deck Nine, the studio behind Life is Strange: True Colors, has reportedly laid off around 30 staff. |
| Cloud Imperium | Feb 28, 2024 | Unknown | Cloud Imperium, the developer behind Star Citizen, has undergone layoffs. |
| Wildlife Studios | Feb 29, 2024 | 150 | Wildlife Studios has reduced its workforce by 21%, resulting in the layoff of 133 employees. |
| KeokeN Interactive | Feb 29, 2024 | 4 | From a core team of 19, KeokeN laid off four employees, as former CEO confirms. |
| Electronic Arts | Feb 29, 2024 | 670 | Electronic Arts has announced another round of layoffs, affecting approximately 5% of its workforce. |
| 505 Games | Feb 29, 2024 | Unknown | Another round of layoffs has occurred as 505 Games closes its operations in Spain, France, and Germany. |
| Radical Forge | Mar 1, 2024 | 6 | Indie studio Radical Forge has recently experienced a wave of layoffs, affecting a few employees. |
| Frogsong | Mar 1, 2024 | 14 | Frogsong laid off all 14 employees, confirmed by CEO Stefan Jonsson on LinkedIn. |
| PerBlue | Mar 1, 2024 | Unknown | Independent mobile games studio PerBlue reportedly laid off a few staff. |
| Babaroga | Mar 1, 2024 | 4 | Babaroga Games, a support studio, reportedly terminated the employment of four individuals. |
| Spearhead Games | Mar 6, 2024 | Unknown | Spearhead Games is laying off most of its staff and is discontinuing production of Unforetold: Witchstone. |
| Torus Games | Mar 6, 2024 | Unknown | Australian studio Torus has laid off its team and will be on hiatus indefinitely. |
| Rooster Teeth | Mar 6, 2024 | 150 | Rooster Teeth, after over two decades, is shutting down operations by parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery. |
| Deviation Games | Mar 9, 2024 | Unknown | AAA game developer Deviation Games has closed its studio. |
| Something Wicked | Mar 19, 2024 | Unknown | Something Wicked Games has reportedly laid off a few of its staff. |
| Crop Circle Games | Mar 26, 2024 | Unknown | Following 50 layoffs in February, Crop Circle Games has now closed down completely. |
| Smilegate Barcelona | Mar 27, 2024 | 45+ | Smilegate Barcelona has been closed, resulting in the laying off of all its employees. |
| Gearbox Entertainment | April 3, 2024 | Unknown | Gearbox Entertainment confirmed layoffs at the company. |
| Relic | April 5, 2024 | Unknown | Following its sale from Sega, Relic Entertainment was been hit with layoffs as confirmed officially. |
| Kwalee | April 15, 2024 | 40 | Kwalee lays off close to 40 staff members but remains committed to expanding its workforce to over 400. |
The list will be updated as announcements come further, although we wish it doesn’t since people losing the jobs they love in an industry beaming with creativity is not a good sight.
Final Thoughts
Well, to sum things up, the layoffs in the gaming industry in 2024 just paint a picture that not every day is sunny, there will be moments of gloom too. The industry does give out some interesting ideas, yes, but there are times when things don’t work out for either party, the players as well as the developers, and hence we can see both mobile game shutdowns and closure of studios in more numbers.
While the news of layoffs can be discouraging, these are things that sometimes cannot be avoided. The decisions need to be taken, either to bring better products or cut losses and move on. Hopefully, as I mentioned earlier, this is the end of what we know as the damaging process of layoffs and further progress as a whole so that there will be no more gaming layoffs for 2024.
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