The people who build the games you love are in crisis.
You may not know their names, but you know their work. The worlds they built. The characters they wrote. The music that stayed with you. Right now, tens of thousands of them have lost their jobs, and the industry shows no sign of slowing down.
Since 2022, over 47,000 jobs have been eliminated across the gaming industry. In 2024, the worst year on record, more workers were laid off than in 2022 and 2023 combined.
According to the GDC State of the Industry 2026 survey, 1 in 3 US game workers has been laid off in the past two years. Nearly half of those are still unable to find new work.
These are artists, engineers, writers, and designers. Many of them are racing against time, trying to find income while keeping their families fed, housed, and hopeful. Some are not making it.
In Their Words
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When I was laid off, it included about 15 people in a 50-person office. I soon realized this was a growing systemic problem for the whole industry.
Anonymous developer
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Within each statistic are scores of intimate miniature apocalypses: someone's livelihood, maybe their dream job or first break in this competitive industry, dashed against the wall.
Game Developer Magazine
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These mass layoffs affect real people and real families and throw their lives into disarray.
ZeniMax worker, via Game Developer
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Almost half of laid-off respondents say they've been unable to find new work.
GDC State of the Industry Survey, 2026
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On a pirate ship, they'd toss the captain overboard.
Michael Douse, publishing director at Larian Studios, via PC Gamer
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The floor just keeps falling out. That cycle continuing for as long as it has is the most damaging thing.
Former Relic Entertainment developer, via IGN
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74% of surveyed students say they are concerned about their future job prospects in the game industry.
GDC State of the Industry Survey, 2026
Know This Industry
🤝
Smaller than you think
The gaming industry is more interconnected than it appears from the outside. Reputation matters here; these professionals carry strong references, deep collaboration skills, and a track record of shipping under pressure.
🧰
Skills that travel
Gaming professionals bring skills that translate to virtually any industry: project management under tight deadlines, cross-disciplinary teamwork, and complex problem-solving are standard here. If your organization values people who ship, these are your people.
📊
Rising costs, frozen prices
AAA development budgets have grown from roughly $15 million in the mid-2000s to over $200 million today. Yet the retail price of a new game held at $60 for 15 years, only recently rising to $70. That gap is not sustainable, and the workers are the ones absorbing the cost.
🎓
An untapped talent pool
Over 250 US colleges now offer game development programs, graduating thousands of hopeful professionals each year. Many of them spent years preparing for an industry that may no longer have room for them. That is a difficult reality to face after investing so much in a dream.
How It Works
01
Recipients add items to their Vitals List
Verified gaming industry workers, referred by community members, add specific essential items to their Vitals List.
02
Donors browse and choose
Anyone can browse active Vitals Lists. No account required. See what someone is looking for and why, then choose to help.
03
Item ships directly to them
You pay for the item plus a small 5% fee that keeps ManaWell running. It ships straight to the recipient; no cash pool, no ambiguity.
You can do something real about this.
No donation disappearing into a fund. No bureaucracy. Just a person who could use something specific, and you choosing to send it. A 5% fee covers operational costs so ManaWell can keep running.