Games industry: One in ten developers will lose their jobs in 2024

A current survey by the Game Developers Conference (GDC) shows the extent of job cuts in the game industry: according to it, 11 percent of workers in the industry will lose their jobs in 2024. Of the 3,000 respondents, 41 percent said they have experienced the effects of layoffs firsthand or have seen them in other teams.

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Last year saw massive job cuts in the tech sector. The gaming industry, which had grown massively during its boom during the Corona pandemic, was particularly affected. Almost all major companies, including Sony and Microsoft, cut jobs. Other studios were closed entirely – according to the survey, four percent of respondents worked at studios that were closed. In its report on the survey, the GDC pointed out that this situation does not only affect developers who lost their jobs. Even young professionals are currently finding it difficult to find employment.

Doubts about AI

Another finding of the survey: There is growing skepticism among game studios about the use of generic AI. Although 36 percent of those surveyed said they were already using generative AI at work, a strong disapproving attitude is evident in many places: In last year’s survey, 18 percent of those surveyed said their Companies were not interested in using generative AI. It is now 27 percent.

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30 percent of those surveyed also said that generative AI has a negative impact on the gaming industry – up from only 13 percent last year. Only 18 percent see a positive impact on the industry. According to the survey report, developers are concerned about intellectual property protection, energy consumption and the quality of AI-generated content, among other things. There are also fears that AI could make additional jobs redundant.

An interesting detail: The use of AI is particularly widespread in the finance and marketing departments of gaming companies, as well as in management positions – that is, not just in areas like programming, writing or the production of assets and graphics. Moreover, according to the survey, older employees use generic AI more than the younger generation.

a quarter are women

Overall, the games industry remains an attractive employer, especially for young people: a third of those surveyed were between 25 and 34 years old, with another third between 35 and 44 years old. Only six percent of the people surveyed were above 55 years of age. The proportion of men fell to 66 percent. Women comprise a quarter of the gaming industry workforce, 6 percent of whom identify as non-binary.

The majority of respondents, 58 percent, worked in the United States. Only 1.3 percent of those surveyed worked in Germany. GDC has published the full report of the survey on Dropbox,

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