One-third of U.S. video game industry workers report having been laid off over the past two years, according to the 2026 State of the Game Industry Report released ahead of the rebranded Game Developers Conference (GDC) Festival of Gaming.

The 33% U.S. figure falls to 28% on a global basis. The report draws on responses from more than 2,300 gaming industry professionals, deploying questionnaires "customized for each participant group, ensuring that developers, marketers, executives, investors and others answered questions most relevant to them."

Half of all respondents said their current or most recent employer had carried out layoffs in the past 12 months — a separate measure from the individual two-year layoff rate.

The U.S.-global gap of five percentage points points to the U.S. workforce carrying slightly heavier personal exposure to the current contraction than respondents in other markets surveyed.

What does the studio-level breakdown look like?

AAA studios absorbed the heaviest share of cuts. Per the report: "Those at AAA studios were highly likely to have experienced layoffs at their companies; two-thirds of respondents at AAA studios said their companies had layoffs."

The figure drops sharply at indie studios. "One-third of people working at indie studios reported the same."

The research team also polled a smaller cohort of game educators and students to capture conditions facing the next wave of entrants to the field, a data point likely to weigh on hiring pipelines and entry-level compensation at studios planning 2026 headcount.

Where does unionization sentiment land?

U.S.-based respondents backed unionization by 82%, with 5% opposed and 13% unsure. Support ran hotter inside three subgroups the report flags:

• Workers earning under $200,000 per year: 87%
• Those laid off in the past two years: 88%
• Respondents under age 45: 86%
• Respondents aged 18-24: zero opposition recorded

The sub-$200,000 cohort and the under-45 bracket overlap heavily, both aligning with the rank-and-file developer population at AAA and mid-tier studios. The 87% and 86% support rates show union sentiment concentrated in the cohorts running most day-to-day production work.

The youngest bracket tells the clearest story: every respondent between 18 and 24 supported unionization, suggesting the workforce entering game development arrives predisposed toward collective representation.

What other topics does the report cover?

The 2026 edition expands beyond layoffs and labor to track generative AI adoption and sentiment, development platforms and studio priorities, current business pressures and emerging industry trends. Download the full document for free through the GDC registration portal.

When and where is the festival?

Organizers timed the report's release ahead of the GDC Festival of Gaming, scheduled for March 9-13 in San Francisco. The event marks a structural rebranding of the long-running conference into a broader festival, expanding programming with additional tracks aimed at a wider industry audience beyond core developers.

The 33% U.S. layoff rate and the 82% unionization support figure are the two benchmarks likely to anchor workforce conversations on the show floor — concrete numbers HR leads, studio heads and organizers will need to address when doors open March 9. Watch for first-party union petitions filed in the run-up to the festival and any studio guidance issued in response to the report's findings.