Mid Career Game Roles Drive Hiring Growth

Games Hiring Data Shows Mid-Level Roles Dominate

Amir Satvat, recognized at The Game Awards, shared fresh insights from his Games Community on LinkedIn. His latest data tracks hiring trends across functions, experience levels, and global regions, spotlighting where opportunities truly lie in today’s game industry.

Most open roles and actual hires target professionals with five to fifteen years of experience. Entry-level applicants face steep odds:

• 7% chance of securing any game role globally over 12 months
• 2% odds for new grads in North American markets
• 0.3% chance outside major North American hubs

Certain functions face extreme oversupply. Satvat reports tracking 52 narrative roles worldwide (28 in North America) versus 90 business development positions globally.

• 52 writing and narrative roles (28 in North America)
• 90 total business development roles, only 10 for 10+ years’ experience

Overall hiring momentum has flattened. Games hiring velocity peaked and leveled off, while non-games roles keep rising. Career switchers without prior games experience further intensify competition.

Satvat forecasts 5,000 to 9,000 industry layoffs this year, but notes long-term impacts from global labor cost differences and AI may eclipse layoffs as the bigger factor.

Implications for Career Planning

Parents, mentors, and educators should share these odds candidly. Game design and narrative remain among the toughest subfields to enter. Broadening skill sets into non-games roles or related tech fields can improve long-term prospects.

New Games Role Workbook v1.0

Satvat’s team launched the New Games Role Workbook v1.0, updated twice a week. It covers nearly 40,000 roles every three months and delivers fresh listings eight times a month.

Key features include:

• Bi-weekly updates with new game and tech roles
• Standardized into 25 role categories for easy filtering
• Direct apply links at role and location level

This responsive, categorized workbook replaces slower updates and helps job seekers act within the critical seven-day application window.