<
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2024/mar/23/game-developer-conference-layoffs-ai-support>
"Despite the sunny spring skies in San Francisco this week, the mood among
nearly 30,000 video game industry professionals was gloomy as they descended
upon the city for the yearly Game Developers Conference (GDC). Some were so
frustrated with the state of affairs in their business that they organized a
group screaming session in a park.
“Those of us who have a job and can afford to be here are going through the
motions and trying to have a good time,” said Maxi Molina, a game developer
attending the event from Spain. “But the vibe is rancid in the industry right
now.”
The gaming industry saw more than 10,000 workers laid off in 2023, up from
8,500 in 2022, according to the Game Industry Layoffs project, which tracks
game developer and publisher job losses globally. Layoffs have hit studios
ranging in size from tiny independent game publishers to titans of the industry
like
Fortnite maker Epic Games, which laid off 830 employees in September
2023; Microsoft, which cut 1,900 employees at Activision Blizzard and Xbox in
January; and Sony, which announced in February it was laying off 900 people
globally across its studios. The trend is only accelerating, with 2,000 games
industry professionals losing their jobs in February – a five-time increase
year over year, according to the layoff tracker.
In addition to the continuing layoffs, a recent resurgence of “anti-woke”
ideology that sparked the Gamergate controversy and harassment campaign 10
years ago has further dispirited many who have worked to increase diversity and
safety in the gaming industry.
“It’s a constant in the industry,” said Molina, who also works as a diversity
consultant in gaming. “I think in the years since Gamergate emerged, people did
not want to talk about it – but that doesn’t make it go away.”
Citing these and other grievances, Caryl Shaw, a former Epic Games producer,
and Scott Jon Siegel, a Fortnite Festival designer, organized a collective
primal scream in the park across from the Moscone Center, where GDC was taking
place.
“The game industry is falling apart around us, and we’re all flocking to San
Francisco for a week to pretend like this is fine,” the organizers said on an
event page for the scream, which dozens of game industry members joined. “Let’s
take a minute where we all stop pretending, and express just how it feels to be
a game developer in 2024.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
