Surviving and Thriving in the Evolving Film Industry

This is absolutely true. I would also add that just because AI decreases cycle time does not mean you should operate without a plan. To use an analogy, pretend you are going on a trip from New York to Los Angeles and fuel/electricity are free (or only cost pennies). Now imagine that you don't have a map but are just driving based on instinct. Because you are moving and the cost is low or zero, you feel you are getting somewhere even when you are not. You need a map (app or paper), or at least need to stop for directions occasionally. Movement, no matter the speed, is not progress unless it's toward where you want to go.

The latest GDC stats are in: 33% of studios have seen layoffs. But here’s the twist: while headcounts are shrinking, the urgency for 'critical hires' has never been higher. We’re moving away from mass scaling and toward 'surgical' hiring where one high-impact individual replaces the need for a mid-tier team of five. In 2026, it’s not about how many people you have; it’s about having the right force multipliers in the right seats. #GameIndustry #Recruitment #GameDev #Leadership #HiringTrends2026 #GameRecruiter

GDC 2026 was a good reminder of why this industry is special. Seeing old friends, partners, and competitors in the same halls again reinforces how fortunate many of us are to still be doing what we love for a living. The past few years have been turbulent for games. Layoffs, studio closures, funding pullbacks, and shifting market expectations forced the industry to confront some hard realities. But hard times have a way of sharpening people. And sharp people build great games. What stood out to me this year is that the industry feels like it’s stabilizing, with a different mindset. There’s far more realism now around what it actually takes to develop a game and run a studio. The conversations feel less about hype and more about execution, sustainability, and long-term thinking. Another shift becoming clearer is the growing bifurcation between capital, talent, and government policy across different regions. These forces are starting to shape where studios are built, where investment flows, and where the next generation of developers will emerge. The studios and leaders who understand both creative craft and global economics will be the ones best positioned for the next wave. The industry isn’t the same as it was a few years ago. But that may not be a bad thing. Creative destruction is often where the next wave of opportunity begins. #videogames #gamedevelopment #gamedev #streamlineway #makegreatgames #realtalk #gdc

GDC 2026 wrapped a month ago but it already changed how games are being built in this year. In case you don't see it clear, but it still happening. AI is everywhere… yet trust is dropping. Layoffs aren’t slowing down — they’re resetting expectations. Co-dev isn’t optional anymore — it’s how studios survive. Reinventing tech is losing to reuse. And indies? Still driving the most interesting ideas. It’s an operating model shift. 👉 AI is a tool, not a strategy 👉 Partners are infrastructure, not backup The studios that get this will move fast The rest will feel it 💬 Which one are you already seeing inside your team? 👉 Read the full 5 takeaways here: https://lnkd.in/gqenNAZ4 #GIANTY #GDC2026 #GameIndustry

The industry layoffs of 2024-25 left a massive hole in the "middle." Many studios are now top-heavy with executives or lean on juniors, but missing the Associate Directors who actually keep the wheels turning. This "Middle-Management Gap" is the biggest threat to production schedules in 2026. We’re helping studios surgically re-insert this critical layer of leadership to get projects back on track. #StudioLeadership #GameProduction #SurgicalRecruitment #GameRecruiter

We scanned 421 companies and found 41 open roles tied to DTC and direct monetization. The top-grossing studios aren't treating DTC as a feature someone in the team owns part-time. They're putting it in the org chart. Tripledot Studios. Zynga. Scopely. Each has a dedicated DTC title open right now. Not under "growth." Not a PM with DTC as 20% of their job. But a dedicated seat with a dedicated mandate. If your entire DTC strategy still depends on one person running it on the side, you're lagging behind. The studios above are already operating differently. This is a strong trend. We expect to see more of it. And we'll be tracking open positions weekly 

The gaming industry cut tens of thousands of people over the last two years. QA went first. Then UX. Then marketing. Executive headcount at most of the studios that did mass layoffs stayed basically intact. That tells you exactly where these organizations think value sits. Variable costs get cut when revenue drops. What gets protected is what leadership considers structural. UX and QA are the two functions that catch problems early, before they become expensive. Cutting them first doesn't reduce costs. It defers them. You find out later, in production, when fixing something costs ten times more than it would have in design. Rob Pardo said it at GDC this year. The team is more valuable than the game. He's right. The studios that actually operate like that are easy to spot because they're still making games people talk about. #gaming #gamedesign #designleadership

With all these tech layoffs it's got me thinking - are the big tech companies struggling as much as we are? Thought #2 - what if the tech industry is becoming more like the games industry? AAA studios (FAANG) are failing whereas the indies are starting to flourish? What are your thoughts? And what are you doing to set yourself up for your future?

I’ve read through the latest GDC 'State of the Game Industry' report this week, and whilst a lot of it makes for a bit of a grim read, the data reinforces something we've been talking about at Games Leadership® for a while now: 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽. The GDC reports findings on layoffs, Industry disruption, and the rapid adoption of new technologies - and talking about leadership feels more relevant than ever. We’ve certainly experienced a LOT of disruption; rapid growth followed by contraction, studio restructuring, team layoffs, and technologies like generative AI rapidly entering our workflows. It's not surprising we're all feeling a bit raw and uncertain about what the future looks like. That’s why I keep coming back to this idea of 'Intentional leadership'. It means being deliberate about the environments we create for teams to do their best work. Not just reacting to change, but thinking carefully about the systems, culture, and decisions that are shaping and influencing our studios over time. If anything, the GDC data seems to be screaming for us to be more intentional in our leadership and in who we bring forward to lead. Leadership decisions are more impactful than ever for developers. The Games Industry has always been brilliant at innovation, and we now have an opportunity to adopt a similar approach to our leadership. I've been over here banging this drum for a while, but I'm curious to see if others are feeling the same? ❤️

The all but closure of Red Storm Entertainment is devastating. My heart goes out to all my former colleagues today. In the past 18 months, almost 150 devs were laid off from Red Storm alone, including yours truly. When combined with layoffs from Funcom, Epic, Hermitage, Atomic Arcade, and others I may have missed, the NC/Raleigh area has multiple studios worth of designers, artists, producers, engineers, QA testers, etc all looking for jobs. Centuries worth of combined talent ready to work.  Surely there must be someone in this area with the vision and resources to put all these people together to create the next Expedition 33, Hollow Knight, or Slay the Spire. One could only hope. That's all we have at this moment...hope.