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The game industry’s contraction is creating a difficult hiring market, not an automatic path to greater inclusion. A more diverse workforce can emerge only if studios use the reset to make hiring more accessible, enforce workplace protections, and measure who is able to stay and advance—not just publish commitments.
What the available data says about the reset
The International Game Developers Association’s 2023 Developer Satisfaction Survey, published in 2024, gathered responses from May 17 to October 20, 2023, and had 777 valid responses. It included people in game-making roles as well as students, academics, freelancers, self-employed developers, and ancillary studio roles. It is a survey of respondents, not a census of the global workforce: 47% worked in the United States and 11% in Canada, and the report warns that North America was likely overrepresented.
The survey’s infographic reports that 10,500 game makers lost jobs through layoffs in 2023. It also says 4.8% of respondents were currently unemployed; that figure describes the survey sample, not the industry-wide unemployment rate. The report describes a broader squeeze: established developers looking for work, aspiring entrants struggling to find opportunities, and employees left behind being asked to do more with less.
That pressure matters for inclusion. In a crowded labor market, informal referrals and narrow hiring pipelines can become even more consequential. At the same time, the contraction may prompt studios to reconsider how they recruit, support, and retain talent. Neither outcome is guaranteed by layoffs themselves.
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Representation and unequal opportunity are related, but not interchangeable
Among respondents to the IGDA survey, 31% identified as women, 28% as people of colour, 27% as gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, or queer, and 44% as having a physical or mental difference. Other reported identities included 1% transgender, 8% gender non-binary, and 20% immigrants. Respondents could select multiple identities, so categories overlap and should not be added together.
Separately, 67% said there was not equal treatment and opportunity for everyone in the industry. These figures describe the experiences and identities of survey respondents; they do not establish the demographic makeup of all game workers or show that representation alone ensures equitable treatment. The distinction is important: a studio can hire a more varied group and still fail to provide fair access to assignments, advancement, complaint resolution, or a sustainable working environment.
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Where studios can turn commitments into workplace practice
The IGDA report finds that non-discrimination, sexual-harassment, and equal-opportunity hiring policies were more common than formal complaint and disciplinary processes for equity, diversity, and inclusion issues. Very few respondents reported systems to track retention of underrepresented groups or to foster diverse applicant pools. This points to a practical gap between having a policy and being able to show that it works in daily operations.
- Make hiring criteria visible. Define role requirements and evaluation criteria before reviewing applications. Use structured interviews and consistent scoring so candidates are assessed against the work rather than familiarity, affinity, or an unspoken idea of “fit.”
- Widen access to the first opportunity. Advertise roles beyond existing networks, make application steps clear, and consider relevant skills demonstrated through varied career paths—not only a particular employer, credential, or route into game development.
- Make reporting processes usable. Explain where employees can raise concerns, what happens after a report, how confidentiality is handled, and how decisions are reviewed. A written prohibition without a fair process for complaints and discipline offers limited accountability.
- Track retention as well as recruitment. Where lawful and appropriate, examine aggregate hiring, retention, and progression data to identify patterns. Protect privacy, especially in small teams where people could be identifiable, and use findings to guide corrective action rather than treating a headcount as proof of inclusion.
- Hold leadership responsible. Assign clear ownership for reviewing policies, addressing patterns, and communicating what changed. Without follow-through, commitments can remain disconnected from employees’ experience.
These are practical implications of the gaps the survey describes, not interventions whose effects the survey tested. The available evidence does not establish that any one hiring method produces the largest increase in representation.
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Retention depends on the conditions people work in
Getting a wider range of candidates through the door is only one part of building a more diverse workforce. People also need conditions that make a sustainable career possible. The IGDA infographic reports that 28% of respondents said their job involved crunch time, while 25% worked long or extended hours not classified as crunch. These are survey findings, not industry-wide rates, but they underline why workload and career continuity belong in a discussion of inclusion.
Studios can review how deadlines, staffing decisions, pay practices, access to mentorship, and promotion criteria affect different employees. They can also look for uneven patterns in who receives high-visibility work, whose schedule constraints are accommodated, and who leaves after a difficult reporting or performance process. The survey does not show which specific changes will cause better retention; it does show that tracking retention and building diverse applicant pools were uncommon among respondents’ workplaces.
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Career-support programs can widen access, but they are not job guarantees
Support outside studio hiring can help developers build connections, improve application materials, and access professional opportunities. The IGDA Foundation’s 2025 impact page describes several examples:
- Virtual Exchange: a global initiative connecting diverse game developers.
- BIPOC Virtual Career Fair: the Foundation reports more than 150 participants.
- GDC Resume & Portfolio Review: the Foundation says it supported 250+ careers.
- 2025 GDC cohort: the Foundation reports 11 grantees, all alumni of earlier Virtual Exchange programs and all from underrepresented communities; 80% were from outside the United States.
These are the Foundation’s program and cohort figures. They document activity and participation, not proof that the programs caused employment gains or changed workforce representation across the industry. Eligibility, timing, and availability may vary by program.
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The Foundation’s 2024 impact page offers another snapshot of program reach: Virtual Exchange participants represented 36 countries; participants from developing countries rose from 6% in 2023 to 23% in 2024; 68% identified as BIPOC, 33% as LGBTQIA+, and 23% as neurodivergent. Its 2024 GDC cohort had 11 participants, 82% of whom came from underrepresented backgrounds. These are cohort statistics, not measures of the game industry as a whole or evidence that one program is more effective than another.
What a more inclusive reset would look like
The opportunity is institutional rather than automatic. A reset becomes more inclusive when studios broaden who can reach an opening, assess applicants consistently, provide credible ways to report mistreatment, and examine whether underrepresented employees are able to remain and progress. Career-support initiatives can complement that work by connecting developers to peers and resources, but they cannot substitute for fair workplace systems or guarantee a role.
The IGDA survey is self-selected and geographically concentrated, while Foundation metrics describe program cohorts. Together, they show documented concerns about unequal opportunity and concrete examples of support—not a proven recipe or a forecast of industry-wide change. A rebuild that measures follow-through, not just intent, is the more credible route to broader access.
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