Corey Navage

I want to demystify how ASGC tracks games industry job cuts so you understand what goes into the numbers The way we track industry reductions is far more rigorous than most people realize. I occasionally see comments wondering if we only use public announcements, WARN notices, or that we miss contractors, co dev teams, and non traditional roles. I understand why people might assume that, but that is not how our system works. Collecting jobs data is the most resource intensive process in our community because it shapes our support too. Step one is public information. We monitor news reports, company statements, WARN filings, and government notices. That is just the starting point. Step two is direct community reporting at scale. Every year I receive 5-10K+ messages, just related to job cuts, across LinkedIn, Discord, and email from people sharing what happened to them, their teammates, or their organizations. Much of this never appears in the press. It includes contractors, co dev partners, support studios, and indirect roles, not just FTEs at major publishers. Step three is individual signal tracking. I regularly review posts from professionals who are suddenly open to work or referencing team changes. These signals confirm patterns or reveal cuts that were not announced. All of this flows into a large internal tracking system that helps me understand not just how many roles were affected, but who was impacted, where, and when. That context allows our community to reach out and design support that matches reality rather than headlines. Is it perfect? No. I am still working to improve visibility in regions where transparency is lower. But I can say sincerely this process goes far beyond public records and is more comprehensive than any single external source. You may notice that, for a few years, I no longer publicly name organizations when cuts happen unless they request a Games Org support post. That is intentional. My goal is to avoid errors and avoid shaming, because I recognize that not every reduction comes from bad intent. Sometimes funding ends, contracts fall through, or projects conclude despite leaders trying to do right by their teams. Also, my approach is to build bridges and encourage quiet, meaningful accountability. I regularly hear that organizations know ASGC tracks layoff decisions and understand their actions will reach me, even with smaller or less visible cuts. That awareness, even without public callouts, can influence how situations are handled. Most importantly, workers know their experience is not invisible. Individual data is never shared publicly. People trust me with personal information, and I take that seriously. What I share are patterns, totals, and insights that help us mobilize support. So when we talk about industry cuts, please know this is not casual scorekeeping. It is the result of thousands of conversations and careful tracking to make sure every affected games person counts.

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Today I am releasing v20.0 of the Original Games Jobs Workbook For those newer to the community, or who may not have seen it in a while, here is a quick reminder of what this resource is. A while back we combined two workbooks into one joint resource. Many of you will remember the Original Games Jobs Workbook that I prepared. Alongside it we introduced a new Games Jobs Workbook, created in collaboration with Mayank Grover and the Outscal team. Both are important. The new workbook is excellent for bulk content, covering a wide range of roles in games and tech and supporting high frequency preparation. The Original workbook is different. It uses a proprietary technique I developed over three years that scrapes data from every company page, removes geographic duplication and repeated postings, and provides the cleanest and most accurate data anywhere on how many open roles there really are in the games industry worldwide. I still prepare the Original workbook, just as I have since 2022, every two to three months because as a community you deserve both. While I no longer provide the functional detail publicly, I continue to produce and collect it (in a much speedier, short-form way in raw data form) because it underpins so much of what we do together. I have just finished the quarterly update, and here are some key observations: • The total number of open roles in the games industry decreased from 13,411 to 12,816. • This was the second largest quarter for defunct companies since I began tracking in mid-2022. Seventy-eight organizations dropped off, bringing the total down from 2,934 to 2,856. • The number of companies currently hiring is at its lowest level ever. Last quarter 898 companies had at least one open role. That figure has now fallen to 798, compared to a high of about 1,100 over the past three years. • Role concentration among the top 5, 10, 25, and 50 hiring companies ticked up slightly by two to three percentage points. The purpose of this update was to get us an apples-to-apples measure of how the industry is shifting. Next, I will prepare one more major update of new roles and companies before the XDS event in September, incorporating data generously shared by XDS Spark, Game Caviar, and Alexander Rehm. Thank you to everyone who continues to support these resources. You can find both the new and the Original Games Jobs Workbook on Amir Satvat's Games Community's site under Resource #3, View Roles at https://lnkd.in/dQVT4U4y Just click on the Original Workbook tab for this update and enjoy!

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Once again another hard day in the gaming industry. I'm so heart broken for so many people affected across the industry. I'm doing my best to help however I can - though networking, hiring into the roles we have open, and sharing candidates' information with others who may be hiring for positions that better fit their skills. My goal, my joy here at Blizzard, is to match people to the right roles & match the right roles to the right people. However I will say as much as I love games, please, please, please know it's OK to pivot out of games. And it's OK to do it right away if you need to. Paying the bills, feeding your family, and keeping a roof over your head are the most important things and that's absolutely OK. A little bit of research shows that rapidly growing industries right now are renewable energy, healthcare (healthtech more specifically), cybersecurity, software, IT and financial services. There are others on the list you can find with a quick search. I don't want to discourage you from applying for jobs in gaming. But limiting yourself only to game jobs right now may be like cutting both your hands off and maybe both your legs off, too. It can be scary stepping outside of your comfort zone, especially when your resume only covers one area of experience. Learning how to format your resume for new types of roles you may start applying to will be extremely important. It's ok to have more then one resume. When I wanted to pivot into recruiting from 3D Artist, I had absolutely NO recruiting experience. However after much research-and soul searching-I learned how to format my resume (& cover letter) to highlight skills I already had. Skills like hiring, interviewing, project management, and stakeholder/client-facing experience from previous roles that I had held that could be paired with my background as a 3D Artist. Then a stellar studio called The Third Floor liked what they saw and took a chance, brought me in for an interview and the rest is history. I never would have had that opportunity if I hadn't reformatted my resume to catch their eye for that recruiting role. I see a lot of resumes that don't pivot for the job the person is applying for. And it genuinely bums me out; it feels like a missed opportunity and wasted effort. Often, the resume doesn't show the skills needed for the role. I bet if they had taken some time and spent some time tailoring their resume for that type of role they were applying to, they would have had a better shot. Don't just list off the hard skills, make sure to cover your soft skills from previous roles as well! Those are important! You don't need a custom resume for every job application. Just create two to three well formatted versions, each tailored to different types of roles you’re pursing. A bit more leg work in the beginning, helps pay off more later. I hope that is helpful during this time. And no I'm not selling you a service. You can do research online to learn this stuff free.

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Who Is Actually Getting Laid Off in Games Right Now by Seniority I looked at the last 5,000 laid off games professionals who have come through ASGC (it is fresh data) and focused specifically on those who already had experience working in games. Interestingly, and contrary to what many might expect given salary costs, this group is not skewing senior. The median games experience is just 4 years, and half fall between 2 and 8 years of games experience. Based on broader surveys of experience levels across the industry, I am confident these cuts are overrepresenting this early-to-mid career population relative to their share of the overall workforce. That is not the edges of the industry. That is the core production layer. These are mid-level designers, engineers, artists, producers, and other developers who are past entry level but not yet in long-established leadership roles. They are the people who own features, carry systems, and help games actually ship. There is absolutely smaller group of more senior veterans in the data, including people with 15, 20, or more years in games. But they are a minority. The center of gravity is clearly early-mid professionals who were still building long-term stability in the industry. This matters because it shows we are losing a large share of the industry’s bench strength and future senior talent. That has real consequences for team continuity, mentorship, and the long-term sustainability of game development. Right now, for the robust data I can see, the market contraction appears to be hitting early-mid professionals the hardest.

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85% of game studios have dropped degree requirements. So why is it still so hard to find the right talent? 🧐 The truth is, removing a barrier is only half the battle. When you open the floodgates, you get more applicants, but not necessarily more *qualified* candidates. Without a degree as a filter, the burden falls on recruitment to identify "Maker DNA": the innate ability to solve problems and ship products. AI tools are flooding the market with generic resumes, making the search even harder. This is why "Surgical Recruitment" is no longer optional. You need a partner who knows how to spot a closer, with or without the diploma. Is your screening process overwhelmed? Let’s find the signal in the noise. #GameRecruiter #Hiring #GameDevelopment #RecruitmentLife #TechTalent

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If you've never hired a game developer to a non-games role, you are missing out on some of the smartest, hardest working, most adaptable employees out there. These are people who have to completely re-learn their craft every few years as technologies and tools change rapidly. They know how to work smarter. They don't panic. They don't say "that's not my job" Every game dev I've ever known that's left to other fields has been an immediate rockstar anywhere they went.

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I’ve interviewed hundreds of people across my 20+ years in the video game industry — as a tester, production manager, and recruiter. Something I see constantly is that talented people struggle with interviews, not because they lack ability, but because they rarely get real practice with industry-level questions. So I’m experimenting with something new. I’m going to start recording mock interviews with aspiring game industry professionals. The goal is twofold: • Give the interviewee real practice and actionable feedback • Let others see what strong answers and common mistakes actually look like Think of it like a behind-the-scenes look at how game industry interviews really work. If you're someone trying to break into games (or level up your career) and you're open to being interviewed on camera, comment below or send me a message. We already have at least 3 volunteers lined up, and I’m excited to see where this goes. If it helps enough people, I may turn this into a regular series. After two decades in games, helping people navigate their careers might be one of the most meaningful things I can do with what I’ve learned. Let’s build something useful for the community.

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When studios close, sourcers should be the first responders. News broke this week that The Outsiders, the studio behind Metal: Hellsinger, is shutting down after parent company changes. For the developers, designers, and artists impacted, it’s a tough moment. For TA leaders, it’s also a moment of truth. Whenever there’s a sudden shock - whether in gaming, tech, finance, aviation, or energy - hundreds of highly skilled people hit the market at once. And here’s the reality: only companies with modern, proactive sourcing pipelines will be positioned to catch them. I learned this the hard way when I built a global sourcing function at Keywords Studios. The sourcers who thrived weren’t the ones chasing reqs after the fact. They were the ones who kept “warm nets” in place; tracking talent communities, nurturing conversations, and knowing where the skill clusters lived before the layoffs. This applies far beyond game dev: 🧑‍💻 Tech startups: when funding dries up, engineers and PMs scatter. Are you already connected to them? 🛬 Aviation: route closures or MRO downsizing create rare windows to hire certified specialists. Do you have them mapped? 💲 Finance: regulation shifts often trigger sudden exits of risk & compliance staff. Is your sourcing team on top of it? In the GCC, the opportunity is even bigger. As global firms set up in the UAE and the broader region, the TA teams who already have sourcing networks in niche domains will massively outperform those who try to start from scratch. So here’s the question I’d love to throw out: 👉 If your company went under today, how would you want other orgs to “rescue” you, and where would you expect them to source you from? #TalentAcquisition #StrategicSourcing #GamingIndustry #GCC #FutureOfWork #TalentSourcing #Recruitment

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Quiet wins don’t get enough credit in game development. A risky feature cut that keeps the schedule on track. A producer who clears roadblocks before they escalate. A teammate who rewrites a doc just so it’s clearer for the next person. None of it makes headlines, but it’s the kind of work that holds projects together. Not every contribution is flashy — but the best teams I’ve worked with are full of people who show up, solve problems, and make the whole thing feel smoother than it should. Those quiet wins stack up. And they matter.

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