1/4th of European Devs Lost Their Job

This year, much like years before it, haven't been great for industry employment.

Author

Robert Scarpinito
October 24, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

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That’s just this year alone. Keep in mind, layoffs have been a recurring theme of the industry for a few years now across the world. This comes out of a large-scale employment survey, which reported 26% of European employees are actually former employees.

It all feels very doom and gloom when you look at the industry through this lens, especially when you see CEO salaries and bonuses continue to rise, like for Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. As his salary climbs to $96 million, his company cracks the whip, putting unrealistic expectations on the Xbox division to hit a 30% profit margin. For context, the average profit margin tends to cap at 22% in this industry.

We’re somehow drowning in highly rated video games this year while many who put in the work to make games are suffering from unemployment.

Unfortunately, this report likely doesn’t cover all the bases, even in Europe alone. The situation constantly evolves, and we should see this report as just a snapshot in time. For example, we also reported this week that Ubisoft has restructured RedLynx in Finland, responsible for the Trials series. And in Sweden, Ubisoft made some job cuts at Massive Entertainment, the studio behind The Division 2 and Star Wars Outlaws.

Well, in lighter news, PowerWash Simulator 2 is out now, and its roadmap promises some crossover DLCs to look forward to. This IP previously collaborated with Final Fantasy and Warhammer, so I can only hope the future crossovers are just as wild and interesting.

If you’re looking for a game to zone out with, this is a great one for (sorta) unplugging and taking a chill pill. If you need to be convinced, you can check out our review, where we gave it an 8/10.

Email Was Only the Beginning

Four years in the making. One event that will change everything.

On November 13, beehiiv is redefining what it means to create online with their first-ever virtual Winter Release Event.

This isn’t just an update or a new feature. It’s a revolution in how content is built, shared, and owned. You don’t want to miss this.

At least they disclosed it. Though you have to wonder how many of them didn’t. The continuing AI-ification of the internet continues, affecting at least 17% of the Steam Next Fest demos this time around.

In more AI news, Gaijin Entertainment, the company behind War Thunder, has revealed its new game creation tool EdenSpark, which uses AI to help create console games.

If you want to let out some frustration in a Marvel-flavored way, just wait a couple weeks for this beat-em-up to release. It’s developed by the same folks behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, so I’ve got high hopes for Cosmic Invasion to also be a blast to play.

Mega Evolutions are coming to pockets near you on October 29. Using them comes with a lot of benefits, like stronger ‘mons, but on the flip side, knocking out a Mega ‘mon pretty much wins you the game. So it’s a bit of high risk, high reward.