Gaming Industry Employment statistics 2026: Jobs, layoffs & salaries

The US games industry supported 251,000 jobs (ESA). ~14,600 layoffs per trackers. Average US salary: $142,000 (GDC).

By LEVVVEL TeamUpdated
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gaming industry employment statistics

Gaming industry employment covers the global games industry, which employs hundreds of thousands of people — but the years 2022–2025 were defined by mass layoffs at a scale the industry had never seen. Crowd-sourced trackers put 2024 layoffs near 14,600 — the worst year on record in those datasets. The US video game industry supported about 251,000 jobs and $95.8 billion in total economic impact in 2025 (ESA 2026 Economic Impact Report). The average US game professional salary was $142,000 in 2025 with a median salary of $129,000 (GDC 2025 Salary Report). GDC’s 2026 State of the Game Industry survey (2,300+ professionals) found 24% of respondents were women and 33% of US respondents reported a layoff in the past two years. For broader market context, see our video game industry statistics.

Key statistics

  • 250,838 jobs created and supported by the US video game industry in 2025 (ESA 2026 Economic Impact Report / TEConomy).
  • 82,930 direct US video game industry jobs in 2025 (ESA 2026).
  • $95.8 billion — total US video game industry economic impact in 2025 (ESA 2026).
  • ~14,600 jobs lost globally in 2024 — peak year in Farhan Noor’s crowd-sourced tracker (Game Developer coverage).
  • $142,000 — average annual salary for US-based game professionals in 2025 (GDC 2025 Salary Report).
  • $129,000 — median salary, US game professionals in 2025 (GDC 2025 Salary Report).
  • 24% — women among GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry survey respondents (not a census of all workers).
  • 17% — survey respondents laid off in the past 12 months (GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry).
  • 33% — US-based survey respondents reporting a layoff in the past two years (GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry).

Total employment

The US games industry supported ~251,000 jobs in 2025 — down from 429,000 in 2020

Source: ESA

  • US jobs created and supported by the video game industry in 2025: 250,838 (ESA 2026 Economic Impact Report, TEConomy IMPLAN model).
  • Direct industry employment: 82,930 jobs at 8,998 sites (ESA 2026).
  • US video game industry total economic impact: $95.8 billion (2025, ESA 2026 report); contribution to US GDP: $65.5 billion.
  • The ESA 429,000 jobs supported figure dates to 2020 — the pandemic-era peak — and should not be mixed with 2025 totals.

Layoffs by year

2024 was the worst year for gaming layoffs ever recorded — 14,600 jobs lost

YearEstimated LayoffsContext
2022~8,500–9,000Post-pandemic correction begins
2023~10,500–11,000Acceleration; Microsoft/Activision restructuring
2024~14,600–16,000All-time record; Microsoft, EA, Sony, Take-Two, Riot all cut
2025~4,800–9,000Significant moderation but continued pain
2026 (to Aug)~8,700Pace tracking above 2025 full-year

The wide ranges reflect methodological differences between trackers: Noor’s tracker (crowd-sourced, highly granular), LinkedIn aggregate (broader), and gaminglayoffs.com (real-time). All sources agree 2024 was the peak.

GDC 2026 State of the Game Industry (2,300+ professionals, ±3% margin of error): 17% reported being laid off in the past 12 months; 28% in the past two years overall, rising to 33% among US-based respondents.

Major layoff events (2024–2026)

2024: Microsoft, EA, Sony, Take-Two, Riot, Ubisoft — the year the industry cracked

Source: GDC, gamedeveloper.com Key 2024 events (Variety’s global layoff tracker):

  • Microsoft / Xbox — multiple waves affecting Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and Xbox Game Studios. Estimated 1,900 in January 2024 post-acquisition, further waves through the year.
  • EA — approximately 5% of global workforce (~670 employees) in February 2024.
  • Sony Interactive Entertainment — approximately 900 layoffs in February 2024.
  • Riot Games — approximately 530 employees (11% of workforce) in January 2024.
  • Take-Two Interactive — approximately 600 employees in April 2024.
  • Ubisoft — multiple rounds; approximately 1,900 total across 2024.
  • Epic Games — approximately 830 employees (16% of workforce) in September 2024.

2025: Microsoft dominates again; Warner Bros. closes three studios

Notable 2025 events (publish.obsidian.md/vg-layoffs 2025 archive):

  • Microsoft (July 2025) — part of a 9,000-person company-wide reduction. Gaming studios affected: King (~200), ZeniMax Online (164), Blizzard (~100), The Initiative (~50, closure), Turn 10 (~70), Raven Software (20), Sledgehammer, Halo Studio, Bethesda.
  • Warner Bros. (February 2025) — closed three studios: Monolith Productions (131), Player First Games (~70), WB San Diego (51). Bloomberg confirmed.
  • EA (April 2025) — ~300 additional layoffs including Respawn Entertainment (~100).
  • Build A Rocket Boy (June 2025) — ~300 following MindEye’s troubled launch.
  • People Can Fly (June 2025) — 120 employees.
  • Hypixel Studios (June 2025) — ~140, closure; Hytale cancelled after years of development.
  • Virtuos (July 2025) — 270 across Asia and Europe.

2026 (to August): ~8,700 jobs lost — Microsoft “reset” the defining story

  • Microsoft June 2026 “reset” — approximately 1,600 gaming employees cut; studio closures including The Initiative (already confirmed closed), projects cancelled (Perfect Dark, Everwild).
  • Pace: gaminglayoffs.com tracking ~8,700 confirmed affected as of August 2026 — tracking above 2025’s full-year total.

Studio closures

Over 30 major game studios closed in 2024–2025

Notable permanent closures 2024–2025:

  • Monolith Productions (February 2025) — WB Games. Founded 1994, made F.E.A.R., Middle-earth: Shadow of War.
  • Player First Games (February 2025) — WB Games. MultiVersus developer.
  • Hypixel Studios (June 2025) — Tencent subsidiary. Hytale cancelled.
  • The Initiative (July 2025) — Microsoft. Perfect Dark developer, never shipped a game.
  • Cliffhanger Games (May 2025) — EA. Black Panther game cancelled.
  • Echtra Games (June 2025) — Take-Two. Torchlight founder’s studio.
  • Firaxis — not closed but significantly reduced (September 2025, Take-Two); Civilization VII shipped amid uncertainty.
  • Splash Damage — near-closure; 150 laid off (January 2025) following Transformers: Reactivate cancellation; further cuts in November 2025.

Developer salaries

Average US game developer salary: $142,000 in 2025 — up from prior years

Source: GDC

  • Average annual salary (US-based game industry professionals, 2025): $142,000.
  • Median annual salary (US, 2025): $129,000.
  • 60% of US developers reported a salary increase in 2025 (GDC survey).

Salary by discipline (US, 2025, GDC Festival report):

DisciplineAverage Salary
Programming / Engineering~$155,000+
Game Design$133,000
Audio$132,000
Visual Arts$124,000
Production / QABelow average

International context: US salaries significantly outpace most other markets. UK salaries average approximately £50,000–£65,000 (~$63,000–$82,000). Eastern European studios typically offer €25,000–€45,000.

Job categories

Gaming industry employment spans far beyond game development. Major categories:

  • Game Development — programmers, designers, artists, audio engineers, QA testers, producers.
  • Marketing & Publishing — the industry’s largest non-development employer segment.
  • Platform Operations — Steam, PlayStation Store, Xbox, App Store.
  • Esports & Content — tournament organizers, streamers, commentators, event staff.
  • Tools & Middleware — Unity, Unreal, Wwise, and proprietary engine teams.
  • Outsourcing / Services — Keywords Studios (~12,000 employees) is the largest gaming services employer globally.

GDC 2025 data: 80% of surveyed developers work on PC games; 33% of AAA developers work on live-service titles.

Remote work

Remote work in games fell from pandemic peak but remains prevalent

Source: GDC

  • ~60% of game industry workers work remotely or in a hybrid arrangement (GDC 2025).
  • 26% of developers’ companies have mandatory return-to-office or hybrid policies .
  • Remote work availability has become a significant factor in developer recruitment and studio location decisions.
  • Major publishers (Microsoft, EA, Riot) have implemented return-to-office mandates that coincided with layoffs — correlating but not proven causal.
  • GDC notes remote-first studios tend to recruit globally, particularly from non-US markets, which affects wage dynamics.

Gender composition

Women represent 24% of the games workforce — unchanged for years

Source: GDC

  • Women: 24% of GDC 2026 survey respondents (self-reported demographics).
  • Men: 64% (GDC 2026).
  • Non-binary: 8% (GDC 2026).
  • The 24% figure represents a slight uptick from 23% in 2024 and 22% in 2023 (Women in Games citing GDC) — but progress has been slow.
  • Australian Game Development Survey 2024: women at 22%, with only 4% identifying as non-binary.
  • The games industry’s gender gap is significantly larger than the broader tech sector (~28% women in tech).

Why layoffs happened: structural causes

The 2022–2025 layoff wave had multiple structural drivers:

  1. Post-pandemic overcorrection — pandemic gaming revenue drove rapid hiring 2020–2021. When spending normalised, staff-to-revenue ratios became unsustainable.
  2. Rising interest rates — cost of capital increased; venture-backed studios that relied on growth-at-all-costs funding suddenly needed profitability.
  3. Live service saturation — dozens of live service games launched in 2022–2024 failed commercially (Suicide Squad, Skull & Bones, Concord, XDefiant). Each failure triggered layoffs.
  4. Microsoft Activision integration — the $68.7B acquisition created overlapping roles across Activision, Blizzard, and Xbox. Post-acquisition restructuring was inevitable.
  5. Mobile market contraction — post-IDFA changes reduced mobile ad efficiency; mobile gaming revenue declined from pandemic peaks; mobile-focused studios cut aggressively.