Tech layoffs are still going strong in 2025 – and the stories are heartbreaking
It’s only February, and there have already been 25,000 tech layoffs in 2025. There were over 150,000 job cuts across 542 companies in 2022-2024.
No sector has been hit harder than game development. It is likely true there was far too much growth during the pandemic, but it sure seems like the pendulum has been swinging back the other way with a vengance. Read some of the stories shared on the gamedev forum. Longtime devs are sharing that things are worse than many of them have ever seen and wages are dropping.
It’s even worse for juniors or people trying to get into the industry.
Your situation is similar to so many others’: junior devs can’t find paying work, their personal projects don’t make much or any money at all, and they survive by teaching game dev.
So junior game devs who can’t find paying work are teaching the next wave of junior devs who won’t be able to find paying work. So what will that new wave do, teach? Every year, I find out about another college or university that teaches game development. The number of students who get game dev degrees keeps increasing, but the number of jobs is not keeping pace.
That’s what the cycle looks like right now. It’s f*cked up, and I honestly don’t know when it will improve.
More articles:
- https://www.itpro.com/business/tech-layoffs-2025
- https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1iyp23o/the_nightmare_of_being_a_3d_artist_in_2025/
- This there any hope for juniors in the industry? Developers share their stories of trying to find a job in the current state of industry. https://www.reddit.com/r/gamedev/comments/1j7vuqg/is_there_still_hope_for_juniors_in_the_game/