2009 Layoffs

Last year was very hard on the game industry, at least on the electronic side... 11,500 people lost their jobs (starting in late 2008), according to this study. Here's the most interesting quote for me:

“Aside from the cost of retooling, others were so focused on their retooling efforts they weren't able to see the changes in the market and the impact things like digital distribution, casual, and social gaming was starting to have on the market.”

Ya think? It's so tempting to keep doing business as usual; changing your whole business model is painful, wrenching and expensive. The alternative, though, can be even worse when the market is changing so rapidly. I expect major publishers to continue to change by acquisition, as the grab developers in the mobile and social areas. I'd think that some big company might be looking at a move into digital distribution via acquisition, as a hedge against further growth in that segment.

It's made even more difficult with games that have multi-year development cycles... expect more changes, folks. Marketers have to stay nimble in this sort of environment.