how the layoff crisis has made the industry more diverse

Over the past two years, video game developers have experienced turbulent waters. Despite the industry’s financial growth in 2023, with global revenue rising 0.5 percent year-on-year to $274.3 billion, thousands of developers, programmers, sound designers and artists were laid off worldwide. This continued into the new year, with more than 10,000 people laid off by June, according to an analysis by the gaming and entertainment news site Polygon.

In January, a Games Developer Conference survey estimated that about a third of game developers were affected by last year’s layoffs. About 7 percent of them were fired.

There are several reasons for the mass layoffs, including inflation and corporate acquisitions and mergers. However, many developers attribute this to a course correction post-pandemic.

Video game sales skyrocketed during the pandemic as people turned to digital games during lockdown. Investors subsequently increased funding for the industry, encouraging game developers to commission more ambitious projects and hire more staff. But after the lockdown ended, sales fell.

“Studios are closing everywhere,” says Kelsey Gamble, executive producer at independent game developer Oddlark. “In Australia the funding is from the government [such as the digital games tax offset] has stemmed a lot of the bleeding, but globally things like inflation are really bad.”

But as bad as it may seem, it was a blessing for the independent games sector.

“Many of those laid off have said, ‘Now is the time to bite the bullet because nothing is certain at the moment.’ I get to do something that’s for me and tell the stories I want to tell. This is the bright spot in a really difficult time,” Gamble said.

This is evident at events like Play Now Melbourne, where local developers pitch projects to international publishers. “Play Now has grown significantly in its second year,” says Paul Callaghan, head of games and interactive at VicScreen, who is hosting the event.

“In the first year we had about 40 projects and about 15 platform owners, publishers and investors. “We expanded it this year to around 55 projects and 19 publishers, platform owners and investors,” says Callaghan. “Everyone at Play Now builds their own success and is committed to their own creative vision. Their games are experimental and creative and they take risks in interesting ways.”

It’s this kind of risk-taking that sets the independent games sector apart from AAA games (high-budget projects produced and distributed by major publishers). According to Callaghan, independent games are riskier because they can be created more quickly and are less limited to commercial goals.

“It’s a different level of risk when you make indie games,” he says. “If you’re doing a small project that might take six to nine months, your ability to swing for the fences in a certain direction is greater.”

This appeals to female and gender diverse developers who have a harder time breaking into the AAA industry. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, just over a quarter (26.9 percent) of the 2,225 people employed in digital games development in June 2022 were female.

Astrid Refstrup, who works in developer relations and business development at Wings, an investor in indie games by women and gender-marginalized developers, says there is a large gender funding gap.

“Women are often told that they are inexperienced and are coming in a little too early, which is not what their male colleagues are told. They would be seen as young makers,” says Refstrup. “So women tend to ask for smaller budgets or excuse themselves during pitches.”

Jane Fiona Kennington, co-founder of Perth-based Funny Fintan Softworks, is cashing in on this indie rebirth. She began developing the hyper-feminine first-person shooter Don’t stop, Girlypop! in Year 10, for gamers who enjoy fast-paced arena-style games but may not feel welcome in the male-dominated genre. Thanks to funding from Screen Australia and Screenwest, her team was able to work on the project full-time. She is now 19 and takes part in events like “Play Now” to secure further funding.

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“There are obviously a lot of men in this industry,” says Kennington. “Protect [games] In particular, they are really male-coded.”

The game was designed as a first-person shooter without having to listen to heavy metal. She prefers Y2K pop, so she created something that mixes the two mediums.

Chloe Giusti, regional director at Microsoft’s ID@Xbox, agrees that there is room for growth and originality in genres dominated by male developers and gamers.

“When you take great game mechanics that have been tried and tested and add different layers to them, you’re going to appeal to a whole new side of players that might not have seen it otherwise,” she says.

“In times of turmoil in the industry, the silver lining is that there is a rebirth of the indie movement and with it a more diverse pool of people.”

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