New data suggests layoffs will affect 14,259 people by the end of 2026, up 78% from first forecast of the year

Layoffs in games keep moving higher, with the latest industry tracker projecting 14,259 job losses by the end of 2026. That’s a steep climb from the 8,025 forecast made in January, and it already sits at 9,781 after the July 26 update. The pace of cuts is still outrunning the model, which is why the estimate keeps getting revised upward.

The most recent jump came in a little over two weeks, adding 381 more redundancies. Those include 32 at ZA/UM, 20 at 11 Bit Studios, 51 at Ubisoft Barcelona, and 22 at Red Rover Interactive, alongside other unannounced cuts. The July 10 update also followed Microsoft’s first major round of layoffs, which hit 1,600 employees across Obsidian, Bethesda, id Software, and ZeniMax Online Studios.

For developers, the scale matters as much as the headline number. North America accounts for 66% of layoffs and 79% of affected workers, with the United States at 48% and Canada at 17%; Europe adds another 30%, putting those two regions at 95% of the total. That concentration means hiring, relocation, and studio planning are still being shaped by a relatively small number of markets.

The tracker now expects 2026 to exceed the estimated 15,631 layoffs in 2024, after 2025 fell to 9,197. Total layoffs over the next five years are projected to approach 60,000. One unresolved variable is Microsoft’s remaining 1,600 cuts, which could still land in 2026 or slip into calendar 2027 depending on how the timing shakes out.