One-third of US-based video game workers—33%—have been laid off over the past two years, according to the Game Developers Conference's 2026 State of the Game Industry Report, published January 30.

The figure, drawn from a survey of 2,300 gaming industry professionals, places the US ahead of the global layoff rate of 28%. Half of all respondents said their current or most recent employer conducted layoffs in the past 12 months.

What's the gap between AAA and indie exposure?

Studio tier explains most of the variance. The report states: "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." By contrast, "one-third of people working at indie studios reported the same."

The implication is operational: AAA projects, with longer production cycles and higher burn rates, sit closer to cancellation risk when publishers recalibrate spending. Indie operations, typically leaner and project-scoped, retain more insulation against the same headwinds.

How deep does unionization support run?

On labor organization, 82% of US-based respondents said they back unionization. The breakdown sharpens that picture across cohorts:

• Workers earning under $200,000 per year: 87%
• Respondents laid off in the past two years: 88%
• People under 45: 86%

"Support was higher among workers earning under $200,000 per year (87%), those who have been laid off in the past two years (88%) and people younger than 45 (86%)," the report notes. "No respondents aged 18-24 were opposed to unionization."

The directional read is clear: labor sentiment has hardened across the workforce, particularly among those most exposed to industry churn. For studios and publishers, that translates into shifting expectations on pay, job security and collective bargaining.

What changes for studios and teams?

For hiring managers, the labor pool now carries a measurable memory of cuts that will surface in compensation asks, relocation reluctance, and openness to organizing. For studios weighing new project commitments, retention costs may rise even where headline wage data stays flat through 2026.

For publishers, the AAA exposure figure points to where the next wave of consolidation is likely to land: large multi-project operations with overlapping pipelines, where a single project cancellation can pull several hundred roles at once. The 33% US rate—roughly 5 percentage points above the global figure—also sharpens questions about the US's relative attractiveness as a hiring hub versus European and Asian markets where studio subsidy regimes remain active.

What to watch next

The State of the Game Industry Report lands roughly two weeks before GDC 2026 convenes. Watch the conference program for labor-focused sessions, and track Q2 numbers from the Game Industry Layoff Tracker to see whether 2026 tracks the 2024-25 pace or begins to decelerate. The unionization numbers, drawn from the same 2,300-professional sample, also warrant a follow-up read once the next round of organizing campaigns publishes verifiable membership counts.