(Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios)
The gaming industry has experienced significant layoffs in recent years, largely due to overly ambitious expansions during the pandemic era. These layoffs highlight failures among studio executives, whose decisions have deeply affected developers’ livelihoods. Arrowhead’s CEO, Shams Jorjani, vows not to repeat these errors at the Helldivers 2 studio.
“I wish that our industry hadn’t lost almost… 30, 40, 50,000 jobs over the past two years,” Jorjani told The Game Business. He noted that many top-level executives have made unsound business choices, yet there is “very little accountability on their part. Who among these executives is stepping down? Or reducing their salaries?”
Jorjani points out that developers are the ones “paying the cost of that,” and warns that rapid expansion is “a terrible way to run our industry.” His sentiments echo those of MiHoYo’s Genshin Impact developers, who, despite having 1500 developers working hard, still struggle to meet players’ demands. “Despite us dropping really cool updates, new factions and weapons… we just can’t keep up. Nobody can,” resonated Jorjani’s conversation with them.
Expressing his vision for Arrowhead, Jorjani hopes to be a role model for sustainable growth. “The industry today is not in a good place,” he admits, with businesses losing jobs over “bad growth decisions made by business leaders who have taken stupid risks.” He wishes those risks could be wiser in the future, criticizing how executives often disregard the gamble they take on employees’ futures.
“I’m not against growth but want it done in a way that doesn’t lead to cutting one third of the workforce due to ill-considered decisions,” Jorjani concludes. “I’m not planning to hire a hundred people all at once. I would love to help and hire, but ensuring long-term job security is my priority.” He hopes more CEOs will adopt this stance.
Amidst such discussions, the embattled Embracer CEO, who incurred $1.5 billion in debt following a major $2 billion gamble, has been linked to over 1,400 layoffs. The list of excuses rolled out in 2024 included familiar themes such as Russia and Covid.