According to the ASGC tracker, 10,977 layoffs in the games industry had been confirmed as of October 20, 2026, and 38 studios have closed this year. The forecast assumes that by the end of December the number of people laid off will exceed 13,000.
The data comes from the ASGC Games Industry Layoffs Tracker, maintained by the community of Amir Satvat (Amir Satvat Games Community). The compilation covers the period from January 1 to October 20 and is based on confirmed cases. As reported by GRYOnline.pl, cuts during this period affected 161 teams.
Compared with previous years
According to the tracker, as cited by GRYOnline.pl, the 2026 result is already higher than the whole of 2025, when 9,197 people lost their jobs. It also surpasses 2023, when 10,500 layoffs were recorded. Only 2024 was worse, with 15,631 people.
The tracker’s forecast for the full year 2026 is about 13,000 layoffs. The site Drezzed, citing Insider Gaming and Gagadget, gives a specific figure of 13,077. If this proves correct, the year will end with a result between those of 2023 and 2024.
The compilation also points to geographic concentration. According to GRYOnline.pl, 64% of layoff cases occurred in North America, and together with Europe that makes up 96%.
How many studios have disappeared
The report counts 38 studio closures in 2026. An earlier compilation by Insider Gaming, based on the same data from mid-October, listed 35 closures, including Liquid Swords (October 19), RedLynx, the Ubisoft studio behind the „Trials” series (October 14), Night School Studio („Oxenfree”) and Spiders („GreedFall”). The number keeps rising with each new announcement.
At the beginning of the year, Meta closed the studios Armature, Sanzaru and Twisted Pixel as part of cuts at Reality Labs. Meanwhile, according to GRYOnline.pl, the data does not yet include the most recent events.
BioWare and further cuts
The most high-profile case of recent weeks is BioWare. On October 21, the studio announced in a post on X that it is being closed and that work on the next „Mass Effect” game is ending (report by KeenGamer). GRYOnline.pl writes that, according to reports, layoffs across Electronic Arts affected about 400 people, of whom about 50 worked at BioWare. These figures come from media reports, not from an EA statement.
A few days later, information emerged about cuts at Sucker Punch, the studio behind „Ghost of Yōtei”. According to GRYOnline.pl, 26 people were to say goodbye to the team. The future of Arkane Lyon is also uncertain: if no investor is found, 217 people may lose their jobs.
Earlier, in October, layoffs were reported by, among others, Gravity Well (over 40 people) and Supermassive Games (over 70 jobs), while Auroch Digital began consultations concerning about 25% of its staff, according to Drezzed, citing GamesIndustry.biz.
What it means
For players, the closures result in cancelled projects, such as another „Mass Effect”, and fewer big-budget releases. For people working in the industry, including in Poland, it means greater competition for positions at international companies, because most cuts affect the USA, Canada and Europe. At the time of publication, the report did not list any Polish studios among the main cases.
