October was less tense for the gaming industry in terms of layoffs compared to September, when over a thousand professionals lost their jobs.
Concord
Top 5 gaming companies by number of employees laid off in October:
- Sony Interactive Entertainment — 210 people;
- XR Games — 72 people;
- ProbablyMonsters — about 50 people;
- Netflix — 35 people (along with the closing of the AAA studio Blue Team);
- Riot Games — 32 people.
It is worth noting that not all companies disclose exact figures of layoffs, so the actual number of laid off employees could be even higher.
Among those who chose to withhold information on the scale of the layoffs:
- Cryptic Studios — a subsidiary of Embracer Group — laid off part of its staff, including industry veterans.
- Surgent Studios, the developer of Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, suspended its game division, putting the entire team at risk of being laid off.
- NaturalMotion reduced staff in its US and UK offices.
- NCSOFT also faced a wave of layoffs amid restructuring: the company created four subsidiary studios and closed several projects.
- DON’T NOD decided to lay off staff: up to 69 employees in France could lose their jobs.
According to the portal Game Industry Layoffs, gaming companies have already laid off more than 13,000 people since the beginning of 2024.