Game industry layoffs: The year 2013 so far, by the numbers
polycounter lvl 18
Hi guys and gals! I put together a short summary of video game industry layoffs so far in the year 2013, which countries and cities were most affected, etc. Here's the link:
http://www.jonjones.com/2013/08/15/game-layoffs-2013-so-far-by-the-numbers/
And here's the data from the link:
I created and maintain an extremely detailed spreadsheet tracking video game industry layoffs for the last five years, so I decided to work up some numbers of the year 2013 so far.
There were 61 announced layoffs worldwide in 2013. 34 are in the US, 8 in the UK, 8 in Canada, 2 in Australia, and the rest are countries like Brazil, Belarus, India, China, etc. Of that total, 18 studios are confirmed as having closed, but I dont have data on whether or not 19 of the remaining 43 studios are still open.
Only 40 studios announced layoff numbers. The total number of layoffs from the studios that reported numbers is 2,262, rounding up from the numbers for which I had 25 to 30″ or 50 75″ as the only data points. 20 studios did not report layoff numbers, and 1 studio (Io Interactive) only reported a 50% reduction in force.
Cities most affected:
- San Francisco, CA 4 layoffs totaling 322 people
- Austin, TX 5 layoffs totaling 304 people
- Montreal, Quebec 1 layoff totaling 200 250 people (EA Montreal)
- San Diego, CA 3 layoffs totaling 140 240 people (Trion Worlds full layoff numbers were never announced for the first event and I dont have data on the studios headcount at closure)
- Dallas, TX 1 layoff totaling 215 people (Zynga Dallas)
- Seattle, WA 4 layoffs totaling 155 people
- Vancouver, BC 6 layoffs totaling 91 people (however, PopCap Vancouver, Quicklime Games, and Slant Sixs closure did not report numbers)
- Boston, MA 3 layoffs totaling ~35 people (Majesco Boston did not report numbers)
This would be a good time to mention www.GameJobHunter.com.
http://www.jonjones.com/2013/08/15/game-layoffs-2013-so-far-by-the-numbers/
And here's the data from the link:
I created and maintain an extremely detailed spreadsheet tracking video game industry layoffs for the last five years, so I decided to work up some numbers of the year 2013 so far.
There were 61 announced layoffs worldwide in 2013. 34 are in the US, 8 in the UK, 8 in Canada, 2 in Australia, and the rest are countries like Brazil, Belarus, India, China, etc. Of that total, 18 studios are confirmed as having closed, but I dont have data on whether or not 19 of the remaining 43 studios are still open.
Only 40 studios announced layoff numbers. The total number of layoffs from the studios that reported numbers is 2,262, rounding up from the numbers for which I had 25 to 30″ or 50 75″ as the only data points. 20 studios did not report layoff numbers, and 1 studio (Io Interactive) only reported a 50% reduction in force.
Cities most affected:
- San Francisco, CA 4 layoffs totaling 322 people
- Austin, TX 5 layoffs totaling 304 people
- Montreal, Quebec 1 layoff totaling 200 250 people (EA Montreal)
- San Diego, CA 3 layoffs totaling 140 240 people (Trion Worlds full layoff numbers were never announced for the first event and I dont have data on the studios headcount at closure)
- Dallas, TX 1 layoff totaling 215 people (Zynga Dallas)
- Seattle, WA 4 layoffs totaling 155 people
- Vancouver, BC 6 layoffs totaling 91 people (however, PopCap Vancouver, Quicklime Games, and Slant Sixs closure did not report numbers)
- Boston, MA 3 layoffs totaling ~35 people (Majesco Boston did not report numbers)
This would be a good time to mention www.GameJobHunter.com.
Replies
Electronic Arts layoffs 2012 - 2013: 916 across 17 EA-owned and EA-published studios, with 7 studios not giving numbers.
Only 39 of them announced what platforms they're targeting. Here's that breakdown:
Console and PC: 2 studios
Facebook: 2 studios
Mobile only: 11 studios
Mobile plus web\Win8\digital distribution: 5 studios
Multiplatform: 5 studios
PC only: 3 studios
PC plus Mac\tablet\PS4\Android\iOS: 6 studios
Social: 2 studios
Tablet: 4 studios
Xbox: 1 studio
Cheers!
Do you have any idea how many people are employed at these new studios? I'm hoping that there is enough data to determine weather there is a net decrease or increase in the number of industry jerbs - specifically in the United States. And if the data is there, what is the magnitude of that increase/decrease.
As usual, thanks for all of the great information, Jon.
Brandon, good question, because I do track that as I can. Of the 72 new studios, only 11 gave numbers for anticipated headcount, and that only totals 201, and those were the studios on the list likely to be largest because almost every one of the 11 was a spinoff of a much larger established studio. Finding growth numbers is incredibly difficult, but I'm still trying.
P.S GameJobHunter needs location filters
How exactly is this info helpful? I am trying to look for the benefit to knowing about all these layoffs and city's they happened but cannot seem to find any beyond the fact that it seems like LA is the most secure place to have a job with no big layoffs.
Not trying to discredit the massive amount of work it must have taken to assemble all this info. I just cannot personally see the benefit from it.
I feel this is useful for job hunting and relocation. To know where there is a surplus of people out of work and where the demand is low.
Also, as an auxiliary use, I believe awareness of a problem is critical. Knowledge is power man! Companies spend loads of money tracking seemingly useless data to try and find trends and patterns.
1) Map them out by location. Which cities have more layoffs than others?
2) Map them out by time of year.
- Proximity to publisher's financial quarter?
- Too close\far from Christmas season?
3) Map them out by genre. What genres are booming\dying? Where's the money going?
4) Use that as a basis of whether or not to work with a company, whether it's a near-term layoff or one of a series of past layoffs.
5) Use it as an indicator of their cashflow and stability. If my client just laid off a shit-ton of people, what does that mean for me? Are they on the verge of insolvency? Will they pay me or am I going to be cut loose and forgotten?
6) On the basis of organizational health alone, does this bode well or poorly for a company? Perhaps they grew too large and too ambitious, beyond their ability to deliver. Are they better-positioned to be a smaller company now and stick to their core competence?
7) What was the size of the project and how big were they betting? If, like BioWare Austin, you bet huge and [arguably] proved that no matter what you do, you can't make a colossal MMO that's remotely competitive with WOW despite every fathomable resource being at your disposal, what does that say about MMOs as a genre?
8) On the other side of the coin, if it was a very small, modest game and they still failed and had layoffs, what could that say about them as a developer?
9) If it's a relatively small percentage of people laid off from one studio, is that necessarily a death-knell?
10) Which publisher has the most layoffs, in what types of games, and how frequently?
Everything matters in analyzing data. These factors are how I look (and want to look) at layoffs, their numbers and what they mean. There is an absolute WEALTH of information out there for us to look at... it's all there. Knowledge and power come from parsing it, measuring it against all other factors, then acting on it or not.
Here's a nice website that keeps track of all of that(the layoffs part) and helps people get back on their feet:
http://gamejobwatch.com/
I hope it comes in handy.
For me, 2012 - 2013 was an amazing year with lots of success. There is a few things here and there im trying to achieve but slowly im getting my way around. I sure hope it last.