Some game-industry workers do change industries when they change jobs, but the available evidence does not show how many game workers move specifically into non-gaming work. A European survey found that 10% of job changes in the games sector in 2023–2024 involved a change of industry; it does not say whether those workers were leaving games or entering them. Layoff surveys also point to real job-search pressure, though their results are not a census of the workforce.
What the evidence says about leaving gaming
The clearest sector-change figure comes from the European Commission’s European Media Industry Outlook 2025, which cites the Big Games Industry Employment Survey 2024. Among 1,387 respondents across 38 European countries, 10% of job changes in the games sector during 2023–2024 involved changing industry. The report does not identify the direction of those moves. That percentage describes job changes, not the share of all game workers who left gaming, and it cannot establish a global rate.
The Commission also reports that three in four European games professionals found a new job within six months of leaving a position. That is a separate finding about time to find work; it does not tell us whether the new job was inside or outside games.
The report’s broader transition results offer context: it says 44% of job changes in the sector in 2023–2024 brought a salary increase, 24% involved a salary decrease, and 10% involved a change of industry. These are survey findings, not a guarantee of what an individual job seeker will experience. Read the European Commission’s 2025 outlook.
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Why job searches are under pressure
Recent layoff findings
In its 2026 State of the Game Industry report, the Game Developers Conference (GDC) says 28% of more than 2,300 surveyed game-industry professionals had been laid off in the prior two years. This is a self-reported survey result, not a count of all workers in the industry. GDC’s 2026 report announcement.
In a different survey, 24% of the 562 respondents to the GDC 2025 Game Industry Salary Report’s layoff question said they had been laid off in the prior two years. The 2025 and 2026 figures come from different surveys and should not be treated as a like-for-like trend.
How long the search can take
Nearly half of laid-off respondents in the GDC 2025 Salary Report had not found another job. Among respondents who were still unemployed, 44% said they spent 6–10 hours a week looking for work. In the report’s small application-count subgroup of 50 respondents, 40% said they had submitted at least 100 applications. These figures describe survey respondents and illustrate that some searches are lengthy; they do not predict an individual’s timeline.
What post-layoff jobs tell us—and what they don’t
Among GDC 2025 Salary Report respondents who found work after a layoff, 90% said their new job was at least somewhat like their prior one. “Like” refers to similarity to the previous job; the report does not establish whether the new position was in gaming. It therefore cannot be used to claim that 90% stayed in the industry or that they moved out of it. GDC 2025 Game Industry Salary Report.
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How role and location affect the picture
The European Commission’s outlook, drawing on the European employment survey, describes different experiences across roles: programmers remained in demand elsewhere in the games industry, HR skills helped workers find other positions, and QA/testing and art/design workers had more difficulty finding another job. These are observations from that survey, not universal forecasts or guarantees for applicants. The evidence reviewed does not identify a leading destination industry for game workers.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How to approach a search beyond games
If you are considering roles outside gaming, make the match between your work and the target job explicit. This is a practical way to frame an application, not an approach whose success rate has been measured by the cited surveys.
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- Describe outputs and responsibilities. For example, explain the software you built, the testing you performed, the production schedules you coordinated, the visual work you created, or the people operations you supported.
- Use the target role’s language. Compare its stated requirements with your actual experience, then show the relevant evidence in your résumé or portfolio.
- Keep the move specific. Identify the role you want and why your experience fits it; the available data do not establish one best destination sector, credential, or product for every job seeker.
Those steps help present experience clearly, but they should not be mistaken for a proven placement formula. The surveys measure employment experiences, not the outcomes of particular résumé strategies.
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