A Festival For Lost Souls

This industry hates me! That’s the thought that keeps cycling through my mind as I board a plane to this year’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. After I land and begin shaking hands with fellow designers, writers, and artists, I realize I’m not alone.

Many of my colleagues have been drifting between contract jobs, pitching projects, and chasing freelance work for months. Meanwhile, industry jobs boards are starting to feel like ghost towns as big publishers continue to shut down studios and lay off entire teams. Case in point, on Monday morning (just as GDC was kicking off), EA announced a fresh round of layoffs for the Battlefield team, just months after the record-breaking launch of Battlefield 6.

This industry feels in crisis. Which is why so many of us have come to San Francisco; we’re all searching for something to be hopeful about.