Salim Grant

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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A fair few folks I spoke to at PGC said they're skipping GDC this year. Mostly not for broader political reasons, but a mix of border risk and cost. Many basically don't want to risk either being turned away or being questioned because they feel in either event it harms their ability to visit later down the line. A few also cited being unsure whether GDC was "the place to be" any more, preferring to focus on Gamescom and its Dev arm. I also noticed that many aren't aware of the revised ticket structure for GDC. This is the part that I'm most excited for, as although it's more expensive to the Expo-only crowd it means most attendees can gain access to talks and panels in a way that they haven't been able to for many years. We may finally see some cross-pollination between the different camps of GDC, which I think can only be good for the conference (and the attendees) overall.

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85% of game studios have ditched degree requirements. So why is everyone still complaining they can’t find the right talent? The truth: Removing the degree was the easy part. The hard part is vetting for the high-level skills and "architectural minds" that actually move the needle. We’ve moved from "Do you have a diploma?" to "Can you actually solve this specific architectural hurdle in a live environment?" The talent is out there, but they aren't looking at your job boards. They’re being headhunted. #SkillGap #Hiring #GameDev #TalentAcquisition #Education #WorkplaceTrends #GameRecruiter

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85% of studios have ditched degree requirements. So why is it still so hard to find the right people? Because "no degree" doesn't mean "no standards." It means we're finally prioritizing demonstrable skill and grit over a piece of paper. But without the right lens to evaluate that experience, you're just sifting through more noise. In a skills-based economy, surgical recruitment is the only way to identify who can actually ship a game and who just talks a good game. #HiringTrends #GameDevelopment #SkillsBasedHiring #GameRecruiter

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Game art asset factories aren’t enough anymore. Pretty models mean nothing if the shaders won’t compile. True co-development requires technical art literacy. If an external team can’t debug a pipeline, they aren’t helping. They’re generating high-fidelity technical debt. At Artchop!, we build with integration in mind from day one. The real question is whether studios are looking for true integration partners or just capacity. #GDC #CoDev #TechnicalArt

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Six Things You Can Do To Have An Awesome Time As A GameDev If You’re Not At GDC: Look, I want everyone going to GDC to have a fabulous and productive time. But we can’t all spend a timeless eternity in the limbo that is SFO bag claim, as much as we might want to. There’s more of us than there are of you - the math is pretty clear on that - and spending the week in a FOMO funk seems counterproductive. So here we go…. 1-Buckle down on work - If other people’s focus is on GDC (or if team members are out there), that creates a window when you can really buckle down on your stuff and focus. Yes, it’s a collaborative medium, but there are times when having a few days to just go head down on your own stuff while other people are looking elsewhere can be really productive. 2-Set up counter-programming for yourself - Maybe do a “Week Of Replaying Old Games I Loved”. Maybe do “Festival Of New Gaming Podcasts I Need To Check Out”. Make your own conference for yourself and use that structure to achieve something cool. 3-Focus on local dev community building - You’re not the only one who didn’t go. Get together with other folks near you and meet up on your own. Maybe do a watch party for something from the show, maybe call it “GDWhee!” and just do something fun. 4-Play games from creators you hear about in GDC social media - The barrage of info coming out of GDC is immense, but it’s a great way to hear about folks who are speaking who might not have come on your radar before. Hear about an interesting event? Look up the speaker’s CV and try something new out. 5-Walk on perfectly flat terrain for a while - If you’ve ever been to GDC, you will understand this. 6-Start thinking about getting up there yourself - Use the concept of GDC to inspire your own thinking about what you want to share at a conference, and start putting together a talk pitch. Maybe it’s for GDC, maybe it’s for one of the many other great conferences out there, but take this as a jump-start for getting up in public. Maybe some of these will work for you. Maybe none will. The important thing is to take the GDC week and take advantage of it for your benefit. Don’t think about what it isn’t, think about what it is, and do right by yourself with it.

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I think the most asked question that keep coming to me is: “How do I become a Technical Artist?” and while its a very simple one and super direct but its not easy to answer because the truth there’s no single door into Tech Art. Most of us arrived here by curiosity, frustration, and problem-solving. But I think if you pay attention for some points you could find yourself there Here’s what actually matters. 🧠 1. Start as an Artist (Seriously) Before tools and code, understand the craft: Modeling, environments, FX, lighting, or animation Be very carious about Why the artists struggle and Where is the time is wasted always notice What been breaks under pressure The main point Great Technical Artists are artists who got tired of repeating the same problems. 🔧 2. Learn One DCC Deeply Pick one tool and go deep: Houdini, Unreal Engine, Maya / Blender Know it beyond the UI: Data flow Attributes Evaluation order Performance costs Depth > breadth at the beginning. that is how you will see the task from the software POV not just as an artist 🧩 3. Think in Systems, Not Assets Stop asking: “How do I place this object?” Start asking: “What rules place any object?” I believe its fare to say Procedural thinking is the core of Tech Art. 🧮 4. Learn the Math That Matters You don’t need advanced calculus — but you do need good understanding for: Vectors & dot product Sine / cosine Noise Interpolation Distance & falloff Math is what makes art predictable and controllable. 🧠 5. Learn to Script (That will come slowly and you will find yourself talking to the software) You don’t need to be a software engineer. Start with: Python (pipelines, tools, automation) VEX (Houdini logic) Blueprint / nodes Write bad scripts. Break things. Fix them. dont worry that’s the path and we all came throw. 🛠 6. Build Tools for Others The moment you build something another artist actually uses, you’re already a Technical Artist. Small scripts Simple HDAs Batch tools Debug helpers Impact > complexity. 📦 7. Understand Pipelines Learn how things move: Assets → shots DCC → engine SOPs → USD → render Keep in your mind Tech Artists connect departments, not just nodes. 🎯 8. Communicate Like a Human This skill is very underrated: Listen before solving Explain simply Document clearly Don’t show off The best Tech Artists are bridges, not bottlenecks. 🔥 Final Torch of Truth Tech Art is not about code, It’s about enabling creativity at scale. If you: Love solving problems Enjoy mixing art and logic Care about other artists’ workflows …you’re already on the path. now this is question for the TechArtist who crossed the gates: What was the moment you realized you were moving toward Tech Art? #TechnicalArtist #TechArt #Houdini #UnrealEngine #Proceduralism #PipelineTD #VFX #GameDev #3DArt #CareerAdvice #CreativeTech #OpenToWork

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Well, that's my 31st GDC in the books (if you count the remote version in 2021). This year's version was a reflection of the industry in many ways. For many years, you could see the industry and conference relentlessly growing in unison. This seemed to accelerate sharply with the aggressive entry of venture capital in the Facebook gaming era and ramped up through the pandemic. This year, the crowd was noticeably smaller than in just about any Moscone year I can remember. The tourists have fled the field (h/t Chris Heatherly). Outside of the students and early career folks, it was a committed core of game makers from around the world who were there to meet, learn, and do business. Oh yeah, and knock back a few drinks. AI was at the center of a lot of conversations, and rightly so. It is already changing the shape of the workforce in our industry in significant ways. I am personally looking forward to seeing some mind-blowing new forms of gameplay in the next few years that couldn't have existed without AI. The folks who figure that our first will make a huge impact on our industry. The conference was smoothly executed and the fistful of sessions I attended were rock solid. I attended some fun new events, including one featuring some pretty serious TV folks and some Magic: the Gathering matches. (Thanks Joshua English!) And I definitely met a lot of cool new folks. Although the conference may change and the way I interact with it may change as well, I think it's fairly safe to consider me a GDC dead ender. Even though game industry conferences have proliferated and some mobile-focused conferences may be more important for my business, GDC is still the place where the game industry professional world comes together and I love spending time in the midst of it. #GDC2026

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It was a well needed reset. Devs realizing cope isn’t gonna cut it anymore. Game makers tend to be stuck in their ways, and you could see the industry collectively - yet finally - come to the realization that the business is changing with or without us in pretty substantial ways, and its not going back. "Survive in '25"-type cope-thinking has been crushed. Now we are moving from denial to bargaining. Many realizing they have to use AI. Lots of unnecessary self-rationalization around why its okay to use it and how - best you speed through this phase quickly. China and the rest of the world are already there. The light bulb was also going off that gaming is just no longer console or AAA-centric anymore. Its not that what the consoles are doing is irrelevant, but its simply less relevant than ever to most of the attendants of GDC who are independents in some way. Steam is creating hits, console is not. Roblox is creating hits, mobile is not. Its pretty clear where the opportunity is and isn't. If you were there looking for money to do things the old way, you were probably disappointed. If you were there to talk where the industry is headed, you were probably either deeply depressed over the state of affairs or irrationally giddy at the disruptive opportunity that AI and more open platforms are bringing us. The lower attendance and sober tone led to the most honest conversations I've had at GDC in a while. Less posturing, more figuring things out. Also it was remakarkably free of political activism - the angry, entitled people self-selecting out allowed everyone else to relax a little and just be honest for once. 2027 will be the bounce back GDC for sure, but this get-real session was necessary.

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For those of you who might be interested, I am giving 3/4 of a talk at GDC this year along with Brad Hendricks, the CEO of Blind Squirrel. Our talk is about "building a global development team" and my part of the exercise details some of the production practices we use to manage our different teams in different locales around the world in a consistent manner. In particular, I'll be deep diving into how we capture and utilize KPI's from our teams to try and avoid issues in advance of them occurring. The date and time of this extravaganza is: Thursday, March 12 | 11:50am - 12:50pm. Location: Room 3002, West Hall. I hope to see you there!

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What is a Game Producer? It’s one of the most common questions I'm asked. Ask 10 studios what a producer does, and you’ll hear 10 different answers: program manager, scrum master, firefighter, team mom, cat wrangler. The truth is - a Game Producer is all of those things, and more! At its core, the producer role exists to bring clarity to a project. ➖ Clarity of plan - what are we building, when is it due, and why are we building it? ➖ Clarity of pipeline - is the work flowing, where are the bottlenecks and how do we fix them? ➖ Clarity of people - who owns what, who's doing what, and do they have the support they need? ➖ Clarity of proof - are we on track, what evidence do we have? That clarity helps to make better decisions, lets teams move faster and focus on what really matters: making great games. But clarity doesn’t come from templates or tools alone. It comes from trust and trust is earned. ✅ Trust across disciplines that you’ll listen, understand their needs and translate that to other disciplines. ✅ Trust from the team that you’ll shield them when needed, and push them when it matters. ✅ Trust from leadership that you can deliver what you’ve committed. Good producers work for their teams, they try to navigate around roadblocks and support both people and project. That balance is what separates a task-tracking coordinator, a paper pusher, from a true game production leader. I’ve seen producers rescue launches, re-align studios, and calm chaos in ways that made the difference between a failed project and a global hit! So - what is a Game Producer? A translator. A planner. A protector. A challenger. The person in the room who doesn’t make the game, but makes sure the game gets made. If you’re curious about how to step into that role, how to transition from outside the games industry, or how to sharpen the skills you already use, my Game Production course is built exactly for that. We dig into the frameworks, the signals, and the lived experience that help you grow from “smart teammate” to “trusted lead.” Next cohort starts Sept 30th. You can pick up the learnings here: 👉 https://lnkd.in/gec77gcq

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Overall a…good GDC? As others have suggested, smaller, quieter, and unmistakable uneasy vibes if not borderline dread about how the industry will endure the next couple years and hopefully transition into something resembling equilibrium. But also, an eagerness to build cool stuff, share big ideas, and find real answers. Also, San Francisco has never felt cleaner and safer, at least in my last 15 years of personal experience, and the weather was spectacular and a much needed reprieve from back-to-back snowstorms back home. Of course my own vibes were…unsettled, to put it mildly. It’s always tough when you have nothing to buy or sell. No quid pro quo. No action item or next steps. No social transaction to…transact. So I wanted to show some extra love to Eric Kress, Stan Kwon, Julian ONeal, Robert Metzroth, Mike Salmon, Matt Bertz, Lauren Universe 🔜 GDC, Davis Wilkey, Francesca Reyes, Sarah Anderson, Matt Gorman, Fadhilah Lee, Rebekah Nicodemus, and Ryan Jones. You’re the real ones 🫶

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User Generated Content, Platforms, and Community From my conversations with publishers and developers in 2025, at DICE, GDC, and even with those who attended Gamescom, it is apparent that the industry is aligning around a cautious but clear set of priorities. Publishers are under pressure to validate demand earlier, lower risk, and build toward models that sustain communities long after launch. A major theme is user generated content. UGC is no longer niche, it is mainstream. Publishers and developers see value in games that naturally generate its own content, clips, streams, and viral moments because they cut down marketing spend and keep communities active. Bain’s 2025 global gaming report reinforces this, noting that younger audiences now prioritize customization, creativity, and social connection over visual fidelity. Yet in my own discussions, publishers repeatedly stressed that while UGC is important, the OWNERSHIP of the platform is the real goal. The titles that become platforms for creativity and social interaction capture double-digit annual user growth and become the center of gravity for both players and creators. Publishers want to be in control of that ecosystem, not just supply content for someone else’s. Market testing through trailers was another recurring point. Instead of building a full vertical slice, teams are creating strong trailers to measure early traction. If wishlists follow, development continues. If not, the project is cut. This aligns with Bain’s finding that traction matters more than originality. Without proof of demand, even the most creative concepts rarely move forward. Sequels remain strong bets, but publishers expect them to evolve. Nostalgic IPs are also being revived in new forms, which is part of a broader trend of franchises expanding across media. Cross-media IP has measurable impact, with acclaimed film or television adaptations lifting game engagement by nearly 70 percent. New IPs are still possible, but the bar is higher. They need a fresh mechanic or a theme that resonates immediately. Publishers are blunt that traction must be visible through wishlists, demo data, or community activity. Discovery has also shifted. 24% of players find games through influencers compared to just 12 percent through storefronts, pushing developers toward direct-to-consumer distribution. The broader context matters. The global market reached $219 billion and is to grow 4 percent annually through 2028, but growth is concentrated among titles that act as platforms. Independent studios, moving faster and with fewer legacy costs, are thriving, while traditional AAA teams are weighed down by budgets and tighter margins. Taken together, the message is consistent. UGC is mainstream, but publishers are prioritizing platform ownership. For new IPs, innovation, clarity, and tangible traction are no longer optional, they are requirements.

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