According to this year's Big Game Industry Employment Survey21% of game developers in Europe were affected by layoffs between 2023 and 2024.
Participants were asked if they had changed jobs in the past year: of these, 15% were fired and found a new job, and 6.2% were similarly fired and are still looking for work. Others remained employed (55.6%) or left the position of their choice (23.2%).
Those most affected by these layoffs worked in human resources (32%) and quality control (28%). Many employees at both camps ended up moving to another camp or quitting the games altogether.

Most of the European developers who have been laid off in the last year have managed to find new work elsewhere.
Respondents also said the three jobs most at risk were localization, sound and art/design. PR, founder/co-founder and community were considered the least at risk. According to the findings, in terms of role, interns and junior staff are the workers most at risk.
10% of those surveyed said they ended up working in non-gaming related industries, and 31% of these were former junior employees of a gaming company.
Layoffs have hit studios around the world hard in recent years. Teams based in the UK or France (such as Natural movement OR Sharkmob) must first enter into consultation periods before eliminating roles, but the loss of staff can be a blow to morale or spark stress or feelings of burnout.
In the survey, 55% of developers based in European Union countries (including the UK and Switzerland) cited professional burnout as a top workplace problem, followed by “unprofessional management” (51%) and by the lack of appreciation (38%). . Workers outside these territories had similar feelings: 61 percent cited burnout, then management (47 percent) and a lack of appreciation (24 percent).

The big challenges that developers inside and outside Europe are currently facing in the workplace.
Another major challenge concerns discrimination: 32% of respondents say they have suffered gender discrimination, followed by discrimination related to age (26%) and national origin or language (17%).
You can read the entire Big Games Employment Survey, which also includes detailed information on European developer salaries and the most desired studios to work at. Here.