Frank Lalich

I want to demystify how ASGC tracks games industry job cuts so you understand what goes into the numbers The way we track industry reductions is far more rigorous than most people realize. I occasionally see comments wondering if we only use public announcements, WARN notices, or that we miss contractors, co dev teams, and non traditional roles. I understand why people might assume that, but that is not how our system works. Collecting jobs data is the most resource intensive process in our community because it shapes our support too. Step one is public information. We monitor news reports, company statements, WARN filings, and government notices. That is just the starting point. Step two is direct community reporting at scale. Every year I receive 5-10K+ messages, just related to job cuts, across LinkedIn, Discord, and email from people sharing what happened to them, their teammates, or their organizations. Much of this never appears in the press. It includes contractors, co dev partners, support studios, and indirect roles, not just FTEs at major publishers. Step three is individual signal tracking. I regularly review posts from professionals who are suddenly open to work or referencing team changes. These signals confirm patterns or reveal cuts that were not announced. All of this flows into a large internal tracking system that helps me understand not just how many roles were affected, but who was impacted, where, and when. That context allows our community to reach out and design support that matches reality rather than headlines. Is it perfect? No. I am still working to improve visibility in regions where transparency is lower. But I can say sincerely this process goes far beyond public records and is more comprehensive than any single external source. You may notice that, for a few years, I no longer publicly name organizations when cuts happen unless they request a Games Org support post. That is intentional. My goal is to avoid errors and avoid shaming, because I recognize that not every reduction comes from bad intent. Sometimes funding ends, contracts fall through, or projects conclude despite leaders trying to do right by their teams. Also, my approach is to build bridges and encourage quiet, meaningful accountability. I regularly hear that organizations know ASGC tracks layoff decisions and understand their actions will reach me, even with smaller or less visible cuts. That awareness, even without public callouts, can influence how situations are handled. Most importantly, workers know their experience is not invisible. Individual data is never shared publicly. People trust me with personal information, and I take that seriously. What I share are patterns, totals, and insights that help us mobilize support. So when we talk about industry cuts, please know this is not casual scorekeeping. It is the result of thousands of conversations and careful tracking to make sure every affected games person counts.

29

3 Comments

🎉 Two New Career Resources Just Landed on Our Community Site - With Huge Thanks to Scott Millard and Tim C.! https://lnkd.in/d3z__2sV If you’ve ever wanted to understand how video game publishing actually works - not the surface-level stuff, but real, on-the-ground global strategy - you now have one of the best free guides in the world, permanently, thanks to Scott Millard. Scott is a veteran industry leader, best known for his time as Managing Director of Bandai Namco Southeast Asia and Korea. He helped launch Tekken, Dragon Ball Z, and even brought Skyrim to market in the region. His publishing knowledge spans regions, formats, and decades - and he’s gifted our community his Guide to Video Game Publishing for all to access at Amir Satvat's Games Community. Also, I’m thrilled to welcome Tim Cullings as a contributor - someone I’ve admired for years. You may know Tim from his leadership at Global Game Jam, Seattle Indies, or his earlier work with Oculus VR and in engineering. He’s kicked things off by sharing a curated list of top game dev events and jams - something many have requested. But this is just an amuse bouche. Tim has big ideas, and we’re excited to build this space with him and for him. We’ve heard your feedback loud and clear - you want more Tim in the community, and so do we. 🔹 In sharing these, I also want to recognize the 20 amazing individual contributors behind the career resources on our site, in addition to our Discord moderators and 2,400+ community coaches. I’m proud to say that 10 of the 20 are female - 50%, which is double industry gender representation. And we’re equally proud of the diversity across many other dimensions, which we take seriously in every aspect of our work. Here they are - please join me in thanking them: • Sarah Thomson (Mentorship Guide) • Alex Gombos (Interview Guide) • Jasmine Coppin (Art Portfolio Review Guide) • Hailey Rojas (#OpenToNetwork) • Mayank Grover (New Games Roles Partnership) • Eva Tucker (Support Your Indies) • Alexander Rehm (MVP Resources) • Johnathan Vance (Indie Marketing Guide) • Aïda Figuerola (Early Career Guide Lead) • Ali Farha (Early Career Guide Lead) • Chris Mayne (Games Art Resources) • Seth S. (Guide To Games Startups) • Corey Neuman (Homelessness Resources) • Michelle Fuzari (Mental Health Resources) • Jessica Lindl (Career Resources Suite) • Renee Gittins (Game Dev Foundry - External Resource Partnership) • Lex Parisi (Ask Lex Career Questions) • Tim W. (LinkedIn Premium Trials Resource Ownership) • Tim C. (Events And Jams; And More To Come) • Scott Millard (Guide To Video Game Publishing) • Thank you also to Fitzgerald Lewis, Tim Wood, Will Morgan, Max Bowser, Alex Gombos, and Michelle Voillot for their contributions to the Early Career Guide 💙 Never forget - this is a total team project of 10,000+ lifetime contributors. "We Help Gamers Get Hired. Zero Profit, Infinite Caring."

83

12 Comments

85% of game studios have dropped degree requirements. So why is it still so hard to find the right talent? 🧐 The truth is, removing a barrier is only half the battle. When you open the floodgates, you get more applicants, but not necessarily more *qualified* candidates. Without a degree as a filter, the burden falls on recruitment to identify "Maker DNA": the innate ability to solve problems and ship products. AI tools are flooding the market with generic resumes, making the search even harder. This is why "Surgical Recruitment" is no longer optional. You need a partner who knows how to spot a closer, with or without the diploma. Is your screening process overwhelmed? Let’s find the signal in the noise. #GameRecruiter #Hiring #GameDevelopment #RecruitmentLife #TechTalent

8

4 Comments

Quiet wins don’t get enough credit in game development. A risky feature cut that keeps the schedule on track. A producer who clears roadblocks before they escalate. A teammate who rewrites a doc just so it’s clearer for the next person. None of it makes headlines, but it’s the kind of work that holds projects together. Not every contribution is flashy — but the best teams I’ve worked with are full of people who show up, solve problems, and make the whole thing feel smoother than it should. Those quiet wins stack up. And they matter.

16

One of the better discussions we've had in a while. During the chat, some people shared their screens to show how they search, ended up finding roles, figured out who the recruiters and hiring managers were, and then getting actual introductions set up in real time on the call with job seekers. It was wild! Good luck to the folks who got helped. Waiting to hear how it turns out.

35

3 Comments

I’ve interviewed hundreds of people across my 20+ years in the video game industry — as a tester, production manager, and recruiter. Something I see constantly is that talented people struggle with interviews, not because they lack ability, but because they rarely get real practice with industry-level questions. So I’m experimenting with something new. I’m going to start recording mock interviews with aspiring game industry professionals. The goal is twofold: • Give the interviewee real practice and actionable feedback • Let others see what strong answers and common mistakes actually look like Think of it like a behind-the-scenes look at how game industry interviews really work. If you're someone trying to break into games (or level up your career) and you're open to being interviewed on camera, comment below or send me a message. We already have at least 3 volunteers lined up, and I’m excited to see where this goes. If it helps enough people, I may turn this into a regular series. After two decades in games, helping people navigate their careers might be one of the most meaningful things I can do with what I’ve learned. Let’s build something useful for the community.

176

23 Comments

🔍 De-mystifying the Pixel Processor in Substance Designer Chapter 1: Pixelation Pixelation is one of the easiest ways to get started with the Pixel Processor. To simulate a lower resolution, you divide your UVs into a grid and sample a single point per cell averaging the color values across each block. The size of that grid defines your pixel resolution. 📐 Once you get how numbers work, you'll start seeing how flexible pixel-space logic really is. This forms the foundation for everything that comes next and it’s surprisingly powerful. 🧩 Small concept, big impact. #madewithsubstance #substancedesigner #pixelprocessor #substance3d

106

19 Comments

It seems like if you're working on a unannounced project or one that has been in dev for several years, you should be updating the old resume. This industry is not what once it was. #nothingnew #notprofound #chinup #dumpsterfire

26

Recently several games industry positions without compensation have popped to my feed. Lots of studios with a promise of a stake. Some with a promise of compensation if they raise money. And, even couple studios with purely looking for people to work for free for them. I know times are tough, but hope no-one takes these positions out of blue. Most of those projects are most likely set to fail, and operate with exploitative means. Know your worth people. Build companies right.

46

7 Comments

🎉 Jellyfish AI Impact now supports Windsurf, a leader in AI-powered coding solutions, offering tools like the Windsurf Editor that blend collaborative, continuous AI assistance with developers' workflows. Together, Windsurf and Jellyfish are changing how AI and humans work together.  Through our robust integration with Windsurf, Jellyfish AI Impact allows joint customers to:  🤖 Measure Windsurf’s impact on overall developer productivity: Analyze how Windsurf solutions like Windsurf Editor impact different engineering workflows and use cases – whether it's building new features, reducing technical debt, or reviewing for code quality and security improvements. 📈 Scale Windsurf adoption across the organization: Identify teams with high engagement to further accelerate development, automate testing, and streamline deployment, then replicate these best practices and implementation strategies company-wide. Learn more about what this integration means for your engineering organization here: https://lnkd.in/ghNguE47

54

Game Industry Lesson #2: If managers are not forthcoming with their managers, Execs, CEO, etc, then the project is probably going to fail. Game schedules and budgets don’t account for broken communication nor will anyone in the office correct it. Think of “Toxic Positivity” like placing a band-aid on a wound that requires surgery. It just makes things worse. Lesson #1: https://lnkd.in/eJsNZM2j

12

🎁❓Don’t sell “black boxes” in your store! Mystery doesn’t sell, it kills purchase intent! Today’s example: Heroes of Fortune (iOS/Android) is a hidden gem that blends Turn-based RPG and extraction with genuinely innovative mechanics. I played it for several months and put in a bit of money to buy some gem passes. Then I started browsing the store and something bothered me. I was seeing great looking weapons but no information about what they do… In this game each weapon has specific abilities that need to be charged to trigger: multi hit, burst damage… Weapons have a major impact on your playstyle and without information… That's the black box and it costs you conversions. Back to MINDSPACE: in a store, these are the levers you're working with: ❌𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 - 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘴, 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴. One-time offer is great, big discount super! But since you can only buy each pack once and all packs are discounted, there's no real loss to feel. The urgency is hollow. ❌𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 - 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘦𝘴. We all know a gold weapon is more desirable than a green one. Rarity color codes are hardwired into gamers. Here, color only signals progression tier, not value. Our brain don't get the "shiny" trigger. ❌𝐒𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 - 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴. New weapon = You’ve got my attention! No ability information = I can’t tell if this is relevant to my gameplay style. Attention without relevance is just noise. When I bought a sword in the store, I had to go dig through forums with an AI to figure out if it was worth it. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. Fix: Small popup with one line of ability text per weapon. As a temp fix you can even use the “loadout” page where players can see all items even the ones they don’t have. Let players self-select based on playstyle. You'll convert more, and you'll get fewer buyer's remorse refund requests. Included Games this one's fixable in a sprint! Let’s talk about it via DM I have other recommendation if you are interested.

3

When studios close, sourcers should be the first responders. News broke this week that The Outsiders, the studio behind Metal: Hellsinger, is shutting down after parent company changes. For the developers, designers, and artists impacted, it’s a tough moment. For TA leaders, it’s also a moment of truth. Whenever there’s a sudden shock - whether in gaming, tech, finance, aviation, or energy - hundreds of highly skilled people hit the market at once. And here’s the reality: only companies with modern, proactive sourcing pipelines will be positioned to catch them. I learned this the hard way when I built a global sourcing function at Keywords Studios. The sourcers who thrived weren’t the ones chasing reqs after the fact. They were the ones who kept “warm nets” in place; tracking talent communities, nurturing conversations, and knowing where the skill clusters lived before the layoffs. This applies far beyond game dev: 🧑‍💻 Tech startups: when funding dries up, engineers and PMs scatter. Are you already connected to them? 🛬 Aviation: route closures or MRO downsizing create rare windows to hire certified specialists. Do you have them mapped? 💲 Finance: regulation shifts often trigger sudden exits of risk & compliance staff. Is your sourcing team on top of it? In the GCC, the opportunity is even bigger. As global firms set up in the UAE and the broader region, the TA teams who already have sourcing networks in niche domains will massively outperform those who try to start from scratch. So here’s the question I’d love to throw out: 👉 If your company went under today, how would you want other orgs to “rescue” you, and where would you expect them to source you from? #TalentAcquisition #StrategicSourcing #GamingIndustry #GCC #FutureOfWork #TalentSourcing #Recruitment

18

1 Comment

10 unhinged things to ask people at GDC to avoid endlessly going "Good, you?" 1. What's your favorite brand of sliced bread? 2. How would -you- have designed the Nintendo 64 controller? 3. If your studio were a door, what kind of door would it be? 4. What do you think the Lord of the Rings trilogy would be like from Sauron's perspective? 5. How many times have you worn those shoes before? 6. If red pandas could develop games, do you think games, on the whole, would feature more bamboo? 7. Why do we set our alarm clocks at times like 08:00 or 07:30 and not, say 07:43? 8. If you were the Prime Minister of Latvia for the day, what would you do? Don't worry if you've never been to Latvia. 9. Why do we have fingerless gloves but not toeless socks? 10. Do you think the house plants are judging us?

26

5 Comments

Pretty doesn’t mean playable. Most teams do not fail from low polish. They fail from polishing too early. This week I caught myself doing exactly that as a game lead. We were making parts look cleaner before the full player journey was stable. It felt like progress because the build looked better. But the critical path was still fragile. Cleaner screens. Better details. More shine. But polish is a multiplier. Multiply confusion and you get a prettier mess. So I added one gate before approving any polish task. Does this reduce player confusion on the next action? or does it only increase visual comfort? That filter makes scope vs polish practical. Some polish mattered because it improved clarity. It reduced friction and made the experience more playable. Other polish was mostly cosmetic. So the rule I am trying to apply now is simple. Scope first for function, Polish second for clarity, Beauty later for scale. Polish is not the enemy. Untimed polish is. As a lead my job is choosing what deserves excellence today and what can wait without hurting the player.

7

1 Comment

Most game developers favor unionization, particularly those making under 100K or early in their careers, per the 2025 GDC Salary Report. https://lnkd.in/gXRQtqDy

5

🕹️ We’ve Lost the Gumption of QA 🎮 Once upon a time, QA wasn’t just a department; it was a proving ground. QA folks didn’t just test games, they lived in them. They learned how systems worked, how they broke, and, more importantly, how they could be better. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, during a wave of industry upheaval and transition, we saw some truly creative voices emerge from QA. People like: ☆ Chris Cross – from QA to Creative Director on Medal of Honor ☆ Lyndsay Pearson – started in QA, now VP on The Sims ☆ Michael Stout – QA on Ratchet & Clank, now a lead designer ☆ Darren Monahan – QA at Interplay, co-founder of Obsidian ☆ Adam Boyes – from QA to VP at PlayStation, now founder of Vivatro ☆ Leanne Loombe – QA to Executive Producer at Riot Games and currently at Annapurna Interactive Back then, QA was seen (by some studios) as a launchpad. QA testers moved into production, writing, level design, UX, and biz-dev because they knew the game inside and out—and had the drive to do more. But now? ▪︎ QA is outsourced more than ever. ▪︎ Entry-level testers are kept in the shadows, with no path forward. ▪︎ Titles like “QA” often disqualify candidates from roles they’re fully capable of doing. ▪︎ Meanwhile, the doors once open to QA are often reserved for folks from marketing, journalism, or influencer pipelines—valuable skill sets, sure, but rarely the ones who’ve lived and breathed a game through its darkest launch bugs. Let me be clear: QA IS a career. It deserves pay, security, and respect. But it’s also often the only way some folks can break into the industry, and if we keep people tied to test plans forever, or dismiss their contributions because their title doesn’t include “design,” we’re losing some of our best and brightest. I've seen QA testers write better design specs than the docs they were given. I've watched them run internal playtests, design live ops events, debug with engineers, and help patch broken pipelines mid-launch. These are not “just testers.” They are developers. And we are failing them. We need to reopen those doors: • Build ladders from QA into creative, production, and leadership roles. • Celebrate QA voices publicly—not just when games ship, but during development. • Recognize QA as a space full of future founders, narrative leads, and game directors. We’ve done it before. We can do it again. Let QA rise. Let them build. Let them lead. #GameDev #QA #LetQARise #DeveloperEmpathy #IndieGames #Production #GameDesign #GamingCareers #DevCulture #DesignFromWithin #GameIndustryReflections

1,189

53 Comments

The pulse from GDC is clear. The industry is settling into a new baseline. Studios are rethinking scale. Growth by headcount is no longer the default solution. The teams that survive this cycle will be the ones built on production systems, not just hiring momentum. Pipelines, documentation, and technical discipline matter more than ever. When those systems are weak, adding people only increases friction and burn. Recent layoffs are also removing a lot of institutional knowledge. The people who knew how to actually close the tickets are often the ones leaving. Sustainable studios will be the ones built around the work itself. Scale only works when the system can support it. #GDC #GameDev #GameProduction #GameIndustry

90

12 Comments

I’ve been seeing a lot of people share their takeaways from GDC this week. I’ve been trying to figure out how to describe what I felt there… and honestly I’m not sure I fully can. GDC 2026 left me with a feeling that’s hard to describe. Not because of anything specific I saw or heard… but more because of what it felt like being in the room. The slightly lighter attendance and the new format created something we don’t usually get at GDC… breathing room. After dozens of meetings, hotel conversations, and late night meetups, there was an energy that kind of started to reveal itself across the week. It wasn’t positive. It wasn’t negative either. If I had to describe it, it was a kind of quiet pessimism disguised as quiet optimism. I had the chance to sit with some of the most seasoned and iconic veterans of the industry and ask a simple question… where is all of this headed? The answer, almost unanimously, was simple. "I don’t know." And strangely, that didn’t feel discouraging. It felt honest. From some of the most grizzled executives to indie developers showing up to their first GDC, there was a shared recognition that we are all navigating the same moment together. This industry has been through turbulence before… financial crises, wars, platform shifts, technology waves. But this felt different. The geopolitical landscape is shifting beneath what is a truly Global industry, and you could feel people pausing to acknowledge that reality. Many didn't pause, but instead went straight into cussing. :) What surprised me most though was the tone. It wasn’t defensive. If anything it felt MORE collaborative. Buyers, builders, publishers, partners… there was a subtle understanding that whatever comes next for Games, we’ll have to work through it together. There was a genuine curiosity and real two way conversations that felt much less transactional. I’ve been to a lot of GDCs over the years, including during the financial crisis and other uncertain moments. I’ve never quite felt an atmosphere like this one. To be clear I loved it. Not panic. Not hype. Just an industry taking a breath… and looking around the room.

58

10 Comments