The games industry isn't in the best health right now. Layoffs have become shamefully routine up and down game development, most severe at the likes of EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft, and Epic Games. As a veteran of the medium, Shuhei Yushida, former president of Sony Interactive Entertainment Worldwide Studios, believes it comes down to poor judgment from management.
"The shutdowns and layoffs and the cancellations are the result of these adjustments from the misjudgment that many companies made," he told Whatculture Gaming, in a clip posted on TikTok.
"I think it was super optimism of the time during Covid-19. The industry grew so much because [people] had to stay at home and video games were the easiest and cheaper way to be entertained," he continues. "So they saw this huge increase in the growth of the industry and many investors poured money into the sector, so these publishers over-hired, over-invested."
This is definitely a large factor. Lockdowns caused a surge in interest for games across the board, as people wanted to fill their time any which way they could. But regular life gradually resumed afterward, and many players stopped giving games as much presence in their lives.
"The number of people laid off every time is really sad," Yoshida adds. But he also suggests the industry is resilient.
"However, people don't talk about the number of people hired into the industry," he continues. "When you look at the number of people working at these companies even after layoffs, you might see the number of people is still growing. Meaning that these companies tend to hire when things are good."
That's a slightly more spurious position, and one that's hard to verify qualitatively, even within certain brackets of development. Certainly, many studios and publishers are finding success and hiring additional staff even today, but the overall headcount is comfortably down across the industry, with many studios, both independent and internal, shut down entirely.
In any case, it doesn't help the many folks who are currently out of employment, and who may find they have to leave the industry to find steadier work. He also points out that investors don't seem too fussed: "It's funny to see the companies who shut down, lay off, the stock price goes up."
