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This year’s Big Games Industry Employment Survey claims that 21% of European game developers have been affected by layoffs between 2023 and 2024.
The survey, which was conducted among 1,832 respondents, 19% of whom had over 10 years of experience in the field, indicates that 54% of developers now use AI in their daily work.
In addition, 39% of developers work on pet projects, but 10% have left game development for other industries. While 15% of respondents who were laid off have found new jobs, 5% are still job hunting.
Among the developers surveyed, 35% of casual game developers want to move to mid-core development, 18% to hardcore, and 23% are satisfied with the casual genre. Very few feel the desire to start working on hypercasual projects, with only 1% of developers already working in that genre saying they would like to continue doing so.
Roles at risk
The most vulnerable roles to layoffs include localisation, sound specialists, artists, QA and project managers.
Meanwhile, PR, founder/co-founder, and community roles were considered the least likely to be at risk of layoffs, while trainees and junior staff were identified as the most vulnerable positions.
The survey revealed that 55% of developers in the European Union (including the UK and Switzerland) cited professional burnout as a major workplace issue, followed by unprofessional management (51%) and lack of appreciation (38%).
Developers outside these regions reported similar challenges, with 61% highlighting burnout, 47% pointing to management issues, and 24% mentioning a lack of appreciation.
Also, 32% of respondents experienced gender discrimination, 26% faced age discrimination, and 17% encountered discrimination based on national origin or language.
