According to the annual Big Games Industry Employment Survey, run in conjunction with the Values Value recruitment agency and career platform InGame Job, a sobering almost 21% of European games industry professionals have been laid off in the last year; some found new jobs, others found work outside of the industry, and still more are looking.
GamesIndustry.biz reviewed the associated graphs and numbers, revealing some patterns and data, both positive and negative. Around 74,000 people were employed across the European games sector in 2023, split between more than 5,000 development and publishing studios; the jobs most prone to redundancy in the region include HR, recruitment, quality assurance (QA), and artists. Around 15% of all European industry workers were laid off and subsequently found work again in 2023/2024, while a full 6.2% are still searching. 10% took jobs outside of the video games industry.
Some other interesting tidbits include that 57% of employees at companies in the EU still work remotely, compared to 75% in European countries outside the EU. The number of developers who said they use AI in their daily work and find it helpful rose from 37% last year to 54% in 2024.
Europe, as a collective video game market, is expected to make about $35 billion in revenue in 2024, of which the UK is the largest contributor at $13 billion. For comparison, North America is expected to account for upwards of $50 billion, and Asia-Pacific, a monstrous combined $85 billion. Another $9 and $8 billion are expected from Latin America and the Middle East & Africa, respectively.