Gaming industry layoffs top 3,700 globally in 2026: Report
New Delhi, June 19
The video game industry's layoff crisis continues unabated, with Bungie among the latest major developers to announce cuts and around 3,700 verified job losses recorded globally in the industry in 2026, a report said on Friday.
The report from TradingPlatforms said that the total layoff in gaming studios worldwide certainly exceeds 4,000 when unverified cuts, undisclosed reductions and studio closures are added to verified layoffs.
It cited data showing that layoffs across the wider technology sector had reached at least 1,43,378 in June.
The United States remains the epicentre of video game industry layoffs in 2026, accounting for 2,153 confirmed job cuts or about 58.2 per cent of the global total.
The largest reductions were announced by Epic Games, the developer behind Fortnite and Unreal Engine, which cut around 1,000 roles in one of the biggest layoffs ever seen in the video game industry.
Bungie, the studio behind Halo and Destiny, announced plans to lay off roughly 400 people this summer, while a number of other established developers and publishers have announced smaller rounds of redundancies throughout the year.
France was also hard hit, with four French game companies accounting for hundreds of job cuts. Ubisoft announced around 680 layoffs across multiple studios as part of a sweeping restructuring.
Canada has recorded at least 257 video game industry layoffs, with nearly half coming from Eidos-Montréal.
Canada recorded at least 257 gaming layoffs, including 124 at Eidos‑Montréal after the cancellation of a major AAA project. Several of 2026's gaming layoffs have escalated beyond workforce reductions and resulted in studios being shut down altogether.
Cloud & SaaS companies have cut nearly 31,900 jobs in 2026, while E-commerce firms have eliminated almost 21,000 positions and IT services companies more than 16,700. Social media platforms, enterprise software providers, and fintech firms have each shed over 10,000 workers.
— IANS
Reader Comments
The US accounting for 58% of layoffs shows how overcentralized gaming is there. India has a chance to build cheaper dev hubs — we have the talent. But we need better IP protection and less GST on game sales. 28% tax on online gaming is killing growth.
My brother worked at a small games studio in Bengaluru. He got laid off last month — 200 people lost jobs in one day. These global trends hit us too, even if the numbers are smaller. Government should support gaming as an IT sector, not equate it to gambling.
Bungie cutting 400 after already laying off people last year? They made Destiny 2 so good but management seems lost. Meanwhile, Ubisoft's 680 cuts — and they still haven't fixed their India studio in Pune. These companies need to stop bloated AAA projects. 😤
I work in IT services — we're also seeing cuts. But gaming is different because it's built on passion. In India, many game developers work for peanuts because they love it. This global meltdown will break many dreams. Always backup your skills, people. Keep learning.
France losing 680 at Ubisoft alone — and they still make those cookie-cutter open worlds. Maybe the industry needs to pivot to mobile gaming which is huge in India. BGMI, Free Fire, Ludo King — these run on cheaper servers and make money. AAA gaming is too risky now.
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