
Jiminy Christmas, people. It's tough out there in the so-called "recession proof" gaming industry. And all right before Christmas. My heart goes out to these guys. The
industry experienced explosive growth over the last few years, it only
makes sense that downturn would come. Hopefully these
people will be rehired when things turn around. They will turn around,
right?
Scary statistics, after the jump:
Midway: 160? jobs
Factor 5: 37 jobs
Sony: 8,000 jobs
Brash Entertainment: 20 jobs
Electronic Arts: 600 jobs
NCSoft: undisclosed
THQ: 30 or 40 jobs
Ensemble Studios: shuttered
Lucasarts: 75-100 jobs
So what does this mean for the industry? Executives like to pull out words like "restructure" or "refocus" or "adaptive strategy" when tough times come, so it becomes a matter of cutting through the bull. I think that it's going to get worse before it gets better, but the average gamer probably won't feel the hurt. As long as demand stays constant, developers will scramble to come up with innovative ways to capture the market.
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