In the studio known for the PC ports of The Last of Us, layoffs have occurred, researchers have found that nearly half of developers considered changing professions due to regular dismissals, sales of Windrose have exceeded a million copies — here's a recap of the major events in the gaming industry over the past weekend.
- Iron Galaxy Studios, known for the PC ports of both parts of The Last of Us and the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, laid off some employees. The studio stated that it "hates losing people" but is forced to do so due to a crisis in the gaming industry affecting itself and its partners. Iron Galaxy Studios has decided to "evolve" and adapt to new realities instead of waiting for things to return to pre-pandemic conditions. The studio did not disclose the number of layoffs, but according to Kotaku, up to 90 employees might have left.
- In the past couple of years, mass layoffs have become a standard practice in the gaming industry. As reported by Skillsearch, in light of this, 44% of gaming professionals surveyed have considered leaving game development to pursue something else. Many respondents added that they themselves were laid off, but only 45% found new jobs — with only 27% feeling confident in their new roles. Skillsearch surveyed over a thousand people from Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East.
- Developers from Kraken Express announced that the pirate survival game Windrose sold over a million copies in six days. The game's achievements didn't stop there. It also set a new record for peak online players on Steam. According to SteamDB, on Sunday, April 20, the Steam version of Windrose attracted 222,134 concurrent players, making it the fourth most popular release of 2026 on the platform.
- News on sales was also shared by the creator of the shooter Road to Vostok. Finnish solo developer Antti Leinonen reported that the number of copies sold of his game surpassed 200,000. Road to Vostok reached this milestone just ten days after entering early access.
- Meanwhile, Among Us reached an extremely impressive milestone — its version for Google Play has been downloaded over a billion times. Recall, the space-themed variation of "Mafia" featuring colorful astronauts originally launched on mobile platforms in June 2018 and eventually expanded to other platforms. The game is now available on Android, iOS, PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and VR headsets. The total number of people who have played Among Us to date is unknown, but it’s certainly a very large number.