Despite Layoffs, DDM’s 2024 Report Predicts a Brighter Future for Gaming Industry

Every year, DDM unleashes an industry-wide game developer’s annual investment report, and this year, they’re optimistic about the gaming industry’s recovery.

There has been general turmoil surrounding the gaming industry in 2024. Record layoffs have plagued every facet of the industry, to the point that Developer Farhon Noor is congregating all of the layoffs as they happen to an external site to show the sheer volume of jobs lost. PlayStation and Microsoft have shown dents in their armour with mass layoffs , and even award-winning gaming studios have been shuttered in response. Today, DMM arrives on the scene with an optimistic report that the gaming industry is showing signs of recovery.

DDM’s Game Developers Annual Investment Report suggests “a sizeable uptick” in investments, contradicting the amount of layoffs that have happened this year. While 2023 failed to record a quarter earnings report that surpassed $1.3 billion, Q1 and Q2 of 2024 have posted earnings of over $2 billion. DDM goes on to iterate that the first half of 2024 has produced investments upwards of $8.1 billion, whereas the entirety of 2023 has only shown $4.5 billion investment growth.

Manager of the DDM Games Investment Review, Mitchell Reavis said “When you look at our dataset, which covers 16 years of games investments, M&As, and IPOs, I can’t help but be excited for the near future,” continuing with “The last year has been a really shaky time for the games industry, and with the resurgence in games investments, it appears the shakeout is coming to an end.”

It’s worth mentioning that although Hi-Fi Rush development studio Tango Gameworks was subsequently shuttered following GOTY award honours, this week Krafton stepped in to rescue the studio and the intellectual property from the void and add the studio and IP to their library. While the acquisition of Tango Gameworks by Krafton appears to be a light at the end of the layoff tunnel, it remains to be seen whether further positive developments will continue in the sea of continuing layoffs.