Game industry layoff climbed to 48 total layoffs affecting 2,579 jobs so far in 2026, representing a slower layoff rate than expected.
But game jobs champion Amir Satvat said on LinkedIn that 17 of the last 20 games layoff situations have occurred in North America.
Based on both bottom-up tracking and anticipation of likely future layoffs and statistical modeling, the current projection for the rest of 2026 is 7,554 additional layoffs, bringing the total projected for 2026 to 10,133, down 193 from the total actuals + projected estimate on 2/16/26. This is the first time the total projected figure has gone down in nearly two months.
So far, 2026 has seen 48 layoff situations totaling 2,579 games roles affected. This represents 1.1 layoff situations for every work day in 2026, on average. Satvat uses his spare time to collect data on job resources and uses it to calculate layoffs and job growth in games.
In his latest post on LinkedIn, he said that, looking at the regional distribution to understand where impact is landing, cuts are still heavily weighted towards the West in 2026.
About 58% of layoffs have been in North America (up from 55% on 2/16/26). Another 22% are in Europe (down from 24% on 2/16/26), and 81% are in North America or Europe combined (up from 79% on 2/16/26).
Within North America, 43% of layoffs have been in California. California represents 25% of global layoffs so far this year. That is high, but lower than the share we saw during much of the past two years, he said.
Satvat said that if the overall layoff rate holds, 2026 would land just south of what the game industry experienced in 2023 (10,500).
“Behind every number is a person, a family, and years of effort and care put into our industry. Every layoff is one layoff too many,” Satvat said. “I will continue to monitor this closely and share updates with as much clarity and care as I can.”