- The IWGB Game Workers Branch has announced the creation of a member-led taskforce to support those affected by redundancies.
- The taskforce commits to defending workers’ rights and making sure all redundancies are legal, justifiable, and fair.
- The announcement comes as over 9,000 game workers are estimated to have been laid off or made redundant since the beginning of 2026, despite the continued financial success of the games industry.
2026 is a big year for gaming. Studios are set to release some of the most hotly anticipated games ever, the industry continues to bring in billions of dollars in revenue worldwide, and nearly 9000 game workers have been laid off or made redundant since the new year. Even more game workers are at risk of losing their jobs before the year ends.
Despite the success of the games industry, thousands of talented, passionate workers who make the games we love are being discarded and thrown into an unstable, overcrowded job market. Their bosses blame “challenging market conditions” and claim to be “shifting their focus”, but they refuse to own up to the reality: These layoffs and redundancies are due to their greed and their irresponsibility.
Asha Sharma, Tim Sweeney, and Hermen Hulst won’t struggle to feed their families or pay their rent this year, but thousands of game workers could. These “industry leaders” continue to profit from the talent and labour of the people they have abandoned. Paying themselves unjustifiable salaries and bonuses while thousands of their former employees struggle to get by, and thousands of current employees face an uncertain future.
We’re stronger together. We must support and build up our fellow workers. We must stand up to the “industry leaders” who are only leading our industry and our artform into ruin. We must fight for respect, fair treatment and secure jobs. We can change the games industry, but we have to do it together.
The union stands in solidarity with everyone affected by this year’s barrage of redundancies. You’re not alone.
We are committed to supporting our members through redundancies and we have created a member-led taskforce to ensure that all of our members have the support they need to face redundancy. We are ready to take action to defend our members and their rights, and we will make sure that all redundancies are justifiable, legal and fair.
The games industry is nothing without its workers, and none of us are disposable.
Rob Sheridan, Workplace Organising Officer of the IWGB Game Workers Union, said: “Redundancy is complex, stressful and isolating, so this taskforce will ensure that none of our members have to face redundancy alone or unprepared. Experienced union members will be on hand and ready to support any of our members whenever redundancies are announced. When employers rely on shock and awe to force through redundancies, the taskforce will make sure all of our members know their rights and are ready to hold their employers accountable.
With training, solidarity and support, workers can stand up to bosses who use redundancy to cover for their own mismanagement and greed. Together we can make unscrupulous employers think twice about enacting redundancies, and we can make sure that any redundancies that do happen are justifiable, lawful and fair. “
Spring McParlinJones, Chair of the IWGB Game Workers Union, said: “The only silver lining of the seemingly endless games industry redundancies of the past few years is the newfound strength of the trade union movement. For too long, games studios have treated redundancy rounds as a get-out-jail free card for poor financial decisions.These job losses always hit the workers hardest rather than the leaders responsible for those choices.
Using our hard-won might, we are delighted to be announcing this redundancy taskforce. It is extra special to be able to show solidarity with trade unionists holding Save Our Dev rallies across the US and Canada today. Using our collective experience, we want to empower those still being affected by job losses, achieve fairer outcomes and fight for their jobs, now and in the future. Powered by worker solidarity, we are ready to battle the mismanagement smothering this industry.”