The shadow of job insecurity is looming large over the industry as a wave of layoffs and restructuring hits several major Western game developers. From Just Cause creators Avalanche Studios and Payday developer Starbreeze, to the team behind Dune: Awakening, Funcom, the corporate axe is swinging. In a defiant response to this instability, ZA/UM developers have formed what is claimed to be the first-ever trade union within the UK games sector.

Avalanche Studios dropped the hammer on its workforce just one month after shelving its open-world co-op project, Contraband. The studio is shuttering its Liverpool office while trimming staff across its Malmö and Stockholm locations in Sweden. While the company cites broad industry headwinds, reports suggest the cancellation of Contraband was the direct catalyst. This follows a pattern of contraction, including the closure of their New York and Montreal studios just a year ago, leaving the developer’s future roadmap looking rather murky.

Starbreeze, the studio synonymous with the Payday series, has also pulled the plug on 'Project Baxter'—a game that had been in development for two years—as part of a broader restructuring. The company claims it is pivoting to focus all resources on its core Payday franchise. This move results in the redundancy of approximately 44 permanent staff, with an impairment loss of roughly 4 billion won expected to hit the books in the third quarter of 2025. Starbreeze is betting that this slimmed-down focus will lead to a positive cash flow by 2026.

As reported recently, Funcom, the outfit behind the open-world survival MMORPG Dune: Awakening, is currently undergoing restructuring to consolidate internal resources and prepare for a long-term live-service shift and a console launch next year. While Funcom hasn't disclosed the exact number of staff affected, they noted that the reorganization is in its early stages. Despite Dune: Awakening hitting 1 million sales within its first month, the title currently holds a 'Mixed' rating on Steam due to complaints about lack of content, leaving many to wonder if this shake-up will stall future updates.

On a more rebellious note, the team behind Disco Elysium at ZA/UM has taken a stand against job insecurity by establishing the UK games industry’s first official trade union. The developers describe this move as a harbinger of an "avalanche" to come, aiming to build an industry where one can create meaningful games without sacrificing their mental health, social life, or financial stability. ZA/UM is currently slated to launch its new spy RPG, Zero Parades, next year.

Beyond these, July saw King—the studio behind the Candy Crush series—hit by mass layoffs following Microsoft’s wider corporate restructuring. Meanwhile, with EA recently being sold off, industry pundits are bracing for long-term cuts, with many predicting that the publisher will lean heavily on AI to trim labour costs.