The tracker puts 2026 at 10,977 layoffs through October against 9,197 for the whole of 2025, with 2024's record standing at 15,631. At the current pace the year lands at 13,077. BioWare, Bluepoint Games and several Ubisoft offices are among the 35 closures, and Ninja Theory, id Software, Bungie, Epic, Take-Two, EA, Riot and Blizzard all took hits. Against that: 2025 was the first year game revenue passed $200 billion.
One Number Built From Dozens of Quiet Decisions
10,977 is not the total of a single bad quarter. It is ten months of small, separate cuts, logged month by month by the ASGC tracker. Set it against 9,197 for all of 2025 and the sentence writes itself: this year passed last year's full total in ten months (source: Mezha, November 3, 2026).
The gap is 1,780 people
That is roughly the entire development staff of a mid-sized publisher. The trend line is worse than the single year. 2024 set the record at 15,631, and ASGC projects 13,077 for 2026 — the second-highest total on record.
BioWare and Bluepoint are on the closure list
The 35 closures include BioWare, Bluepoint Games and multiple Ubisoft offices (source: Mezha, November 3, 2026). Bluepoint built its reputation on remakes. BioWare was once shorthand for the RPG. Names like those leaving the board says more than any headcount: the industry is no longer trimming side projects, it is cutting the sign over the door.
Schell Games: 24 Years Without a Layoff, Then Two in Ten Weeks
On October 31, Schell Games announced cuts on LinkedIn. CEO Jesse Schell confirmed the scale afterward: "about 40% of the studio" (source: VR.org, November 6, 2026). The company had gone 24 years without a layoff. The first one came on August 21 this year.
40% works out to roughly 50 people
The press arithmetic: about 14 people in the first round, leaving headcount near 125; 40% of that is roughly 50, leaving about 75 (source: VR.org, November 6, 2026 — figures are media estimates, the studio has published no headcount). Two rounds total around 64 jobs. Unity and Unreal engineers, artists, designers, sound designers and producers went, along with marketing, IT, QA, product management and educational game researchers.
The promise made in 2024
In a 2024 GamesIndustry.biz interview, Schell explained the studio's two legs: original VR games on one side, contract and education work on the other. "We'll put cash at risk when we make a game, but we don't put jobs at risk," he said. The services leg was supposed to absorb the risk the games created. This year the services leg gave way first. The stated reason was "this challenging time in the game industry" and the goal of "a sustainable future for our studio" (source: VR.org, November 6, 2026).
Arkane's Other Ending: French Law Forced a Buyer Into the Room
Microsoft wants out of Arkane. The studio sits in Lyon, which means French labor law applies, and that law obliges the company to look for a buyer. The result is a scene the industry rarely produces: Ubisoft has made an offer, at least two other companies bid, and Microsoft is also weighing a sale to the studio's own management (source: Polygon citing Bloomberg, November 3, 2026).
At least three bidders
A November 13 deadline for redundancy negotiations was extended, and the new cutoff runs into December. Microsoft has not accepted any offer yet (source: Polygon, November 3, 2026).
Blade slipped to late 2027 internally
Arkane announced Marvel's Blade at The Game Awards in 2023 and then went quiet. The internal ship date has been pushed to late 2027, and Bloomberg reports the game is "expected to be released within the next year or two" (source: Polygon, November 3, 2026). A deal probably saves the project. No deal removes the studio and the game together.
Record Revenue, Record Cuts
In 2025 the industry passed $200 billion in revenue for the first time. By June 2026 it had logged seven consecutive quarters of growth (source: Mezha, November 3, 2026). Both statements are true at once: more money, fewer jobs.
Risk got pushed down the chain
For a decade, publishers sliced development into project contracts, outsourcing deals and co-development arrangements, pushing risk down the chain. In a good market that structure is cheap. In a bad one, the teams at the bottom vanish first, because they never had a buffer. Schell Games ran a gentler version of the same model. It did not hold either.
My Read: 2027 Will Look Worse
This wave does not end in December. Xbox restructuring is still moving: 268 staffers were cut on September 22, and Ninja Theory may close entirely (source: The Verge, September 22, 2026). When platform holders shrink their own studios, third-party work shrinks with them.
Players will barely notice in 2026 — the release calendar is still full. The hole opens in 2028 and 2029. Cancelled projects do not come back in any form, and scattered teams are hard to reassemble. The industry is saving money for two years and will spend five paying for it. We track the numbers and the studio list at GameHub.
FAQ: What Players Keep Asking
Will there be fewer games because of this?
Not immediately. The 2026–2027 slate is already locked. But 35 studio closures remove projects in development (source: Mezha, November 3, 2026), and that gap usually surfaces two or three years later.
Which studios could close next?
Risk concentrates on teams already named in restructuring. Ninja Theory is the most publicly discussed case (source: The Verge, September 22, 2026). Arkane's fate depends on the December acquisition talks.
Is this the worst time to enter the industry?
By job count, yes — 10,977 layoffs in ten months already exceed all of 2025 (source: Mezha, November 3, 2026). By competition, less so: experienced developers are leaving for other sectors, and the people who stay still find openings.