Series on why gaming layoffs have been happening

Part 5, the Finale - "But why now?"Thank you for reading this series on why gaming layoffs have been happening. You might have noticed me shouting out the local union and recruiters in past posts.This is because there's no place like home.Finland is a great home for Game Development.The culture of sharing and the work-life balance are like no other, and it's no surprise there are amazing companies here like Rovio Entertainment Corporation, Futureplay Games, Cosmic Lounge, and Supercell.Talk to cool people like Oleg Paliy and Juan Fernandez Castellano - they might know how to help you if you're curious.------So we talked about the ever-present trends that lead to layoffs...(Part 1) It's not AI causing job losses but the lack of R&D and new games.(Part 2) Game projects inevitably die out without that R&D, leading to inevitable layoffs if companies […]

Gus Viegas April 15

Journal

The Predictable Contradictions

Part 4 - "The Predictable Contradictions"A series on why the layoffs are happening in the gaming industry. Again, would love to reference more people helping out in the space:Internationally, I see a lot of amazing posts by Jordan Mazer.If you want a job, he might be The One.Locally, I'd like to shout out to someone who guided me here in Finland, Arja Martikainen. Who went above and beyond what you'd normally expect from the listings at gamesjobs.fi1. The industry has been here for a while - and its money flows have become increasingly predictable. We optimized revenue offers and acquisition funnels to a large extent, which helps us forecast and model what happens next.2. Venture capitalists, the lifeblood of many startups, can juggle ROAS models in their sleep. One would argue, if you know the cost of acquiring users and […]

Gus Viegas April 8

Journal

Game Over: Gaming Industry Hit by Layoffs in 2024

In 2024, layoffs in the gaming industry continue. With over 5,000 affected just in January, it's now around 10,000 already in Q1. Mobile gaming revenue continues to grow 50% year over year. The number of players has nearly doubled, then what's wrong? Bill Roper, Lunacy Games CEO, brings a unique perspective here. “I think that there’s just a humanity that has been lost in our industry, and it’s up to us to try to bring it back”. “I really think we’re going to see a onslaught of small companies starting up that are driven by this desire to create better workplaces in order to make better games.” After recently publishing Layoffs in Data.ai, we've already seen more to come... Microsoft Takes #1 in the Number of Layoffs - 1,900 IGN was the first to report on January 25 that Microsoft […]

Ömer Yakabagi March 20

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