More than 10,000 people in the global game industry have lost their jobs this year, yet major South Korean game companies are reducing existing staff through voluntary retirement while actually increasing new hires with AI proficiency. As cost cutting, organizational slimming, and a reordering of talent standards proceed simultaneously, the employment landscape of the game industry is shifting rapidly.
According to ASGC (Always Supporting the Games Community), a nonprofit community that tracks global game industry employment trends, confirmed layoffs worldwide from January 1 through October 20 of this year totaled 10,977. That already exceeds last year’s full-year figure of 9,197 and is also higher than the 8,500 in 2022 and 10,500 in 2023. ASGC estimated that if restructuring continues through year-end, this year’s layoffs could reach 13,077.
The cuts were concentrated in North America and Europe. Of the 148 confirmed restructuring cases this year, about 64% occurred in North America, and about 76% of total layoffs were also concentrated there.
U.S. game company Electronic Arts (EA), known for “Battlefield” and “EA Sports FC,” announced on the 21st of last month the closure of BioWare, the studio behind the “Mass Effect” and “Dragon Age” series. According to the Associated Press, EA plans to cut about 400 employees, or roughly 3% of its total staff.
In the Game Developers Conference (GDC)’s “2026 State of the Game Industry” report, 28% of some 2,300 industry workers surveyed said they had experienced layoffs in the past two years. Half of respondents said there had been layoffs in the past year at the company where they currently or most recently worked.
South Korean game companies are also accelerating cost cutting and organizational restructuring. NCsoft, known for the “Lineage” series, has been pursuing voluntary retirement and spinoffs of development organizations since 2024. NCsoft CEO Park Byung-moo said at an earnings briefing in February last year that headquarters staff, which had numbered about 5,000, had been reduced to around 3,100 through voluntary retirement and spinoffs.
Devsisters, developer of the “Cookie Run” series, conducted a voluntary retirement program for all employees in May. Weak performance of its new title “Cookie Run: OvenSmash” and worsening earnings were cited as major reasons for the management overhaul. The company decided to freeze new hiring except for essential roles and to reassign existing employees to departments in need of staff. CEO Cho Gil-hyun and two co-chairs of the board decided to work without pay, and key executives also took a 50% pay cut.
Krafton, famous for “PUBG,” introduced a “voluntary exit option program” for all employees in November last year, the first in its history. Employees who choose to leave receive up to 36 months of monthly salary. The company, however, explained that the program is not aimed at workforce reduction but at supporting employees’ voluntary career transitions.
At XL Games, a Kakao Games subsidiary and developer of “ArcheAge,” labor-management conflict also erupted over voluntary retirement and reassignment.
Even as existing staff are being reduced, the competition to secure AI talent is only intensifying. In October, Krafton began recruiting for its “2027 hiring-linked internship,” the largest in its history, selecting more than 100 new hires. It evaluates AI proficiency across six job categories, including AI research and technology as well as game programming and planning, and also uses its self-developed assessment tool “Cofa-Probe” in the hiring process. Those selected will work as interns starting in February next year, and whether they are converted to full-time positions in July will be decided based on evaluation results.
Nexon, which operates “MapleStory” and “Dungeon & Fighter,” also abolished its existing coding test in its hiring-linked internship “Nextorial” in August and introduced AI interviews and AI proficiency assessments. The intent is to make the ability to solve problems with AI tools, in addition to game development skills, part of its talent selection criteria.
Devsisters also announced plans to boost efficiency by introducing AI technology across game development and non-development work alongside its voluntary retirement program.
The workforce adjustments and expanded AI hiring at major game companies at home and abroad are summarized in the following table.
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Global layoffs (Jan 1–Oct 20) | 10,977, up 1,780 from last year’s full-year total (9,197) |
| ASGC year-end forecast | Up to 13,077 |
| Regional share of layoff cases | North America ~64%, Europe ~32% |
| EA | BioWare closure, plan to cut ~3% of total workforce (400) |
| NCsoft | Headquarters staff reduced from 5,000 to around 3,100 |
| Krafton | Voluntary exit program (up to 36 months’ salary), hiring 100+ AI talent |
| Nexon | Abolished coding test, introduced AI interviews and AI proficiency assessments |
Note: Based on ASGC and company announcements and media reports
It is difficult, however, to attribute all recent game industry layoffs to the adoption of AI. Multiple factors are at play in combination, including failed new titles, rising development costs, rebalancing of staff that grew during the COVID-19 period, and canceled large-scale projects.
A game industry official said, “The trend of game companies reducing existing staff while newly securing talent with AI proficiency is likely to continue.”
This trend shows that game companies are going beyond simply shrinking and are reworking their talent standards themselves. As the strategy of prioritizing developers and planners skilled with AI tools to shorten development times and cut costs becomes clearer, competency assessments for game development roles appear to be shifting from a focus on hands-on coding to a focus on AI-driven problem-solving. For existing staff, meanwhile, employment anxiety is growing as organizational restructuring and voluntary retirement intersect. Industry observers expect the pace of workforce adjustment to vary by company depending on the performance of new titles.