Amir Satvat, Tencent’s former Business Development Director and creator of the Games Industry Layoffs Tracker, has revealed that Japanese studios such as Capcom, Konami, and Nintendo maintain staff retention rates exceeding 97 percent. Speaking in a recent interview with Edge magazine (via GamesRadar), Satvat attributed this stability to disciplined business practices, including modest executive compensation and consistent production of popular titles, offering a stark contrast to the turmoil currently reshaping much of the Western video game industry.
Satvat has operated ASGC’s Games Industry Layoffs Tracker since 2022, placing him in an uniquely qualified position to assess the scope of what he described as a layoff-shaped crisis. His data suggests that approximately 14,500 total video game workers will lose their jobs in 2026. Yet his figures also indicate that somewhere between 18,000 and 25,000 people land new gaming industry roles each year. Taken at face value, this math implies a net increase of at least 3,500 hires annually—a claim that seems to contradict the relentless stream of massive layoffs dominating headlines.
A Contradiction With Industry Doomsters
The hiring data appears to directly challenge previous statements from Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, who warned earlier this year that the industry is barreling toward “the worst videogame crash, or disruption, that we’ve seen since the 1980s.” Sweeney pointed to an unprecedented wave of investment in building AI systems and data centres as the primary driver, forecasting a recession comparable to the great video game crash of 1983. That collapse drove home console revenue down by roughly 97 percent by 1985 and cost hundreds of thousands of people their jobs.
Satvat’s numbers do not necessarily prove Sweeney wrong; rather, they suggest that Japan is an outlier skewing the global curve. The recent wave of layoffs includes high-profile cuts such as the 1,600 job losses that hit Xbox in July of this year, with another 1,600 reportedly planned within a year.
“Japan is a completely different ballgame… Everyone calls out Nintendo, but you can look at Konami or Capcom – these companies all have staff retention of 97 percent plus.”
Amir Satvat, Games Industry Layoffs Tracker
What Japan Is Doing Right
According to Satvat, the Japanese advantage stems from teams that are “much smaller and leaner” alongside studios paying their executives substantially less. He noted that while these leaders still earn significant money—two or three million dollars rather than 30 million—the restraint appears to protect jobs during difficult periods.
Satvat also theorized that Japanese studios avoided being swept up in the live-service trend and its associated mega-blockbusters built around 500-person teams, thereby incurring fewer losses. This observation aligns with industry patterns: while there are notable exceptions such as PlatinumGames’ Babylon’s Fall, the graveyard of cancelled live-service titles remains largely devoid of Japanese-developed games.
The implication is that gambling on big-budget hit-or-miss ventures carries real risk, whereas Nintendo, Konami, and Capcom have found safety in releasing sequels to well-established intellectual properties. This conservative approach has proven consistently profitable even as competitors struggle with bloated budgets and uncertain returns.
Looking Ahead
As the industry navigates what many fear could be its most significant downturn in decades, Satvat’s data offers a compelling counter-narrative from Japan. Whether Western studios can adopt similar discipline—leaner teams, restrained executive pay, and disciplined franchise strategies—remains to be seen. For now, Japanese developers continue to demonstrate that financial stability and strong staff retention remain achievable even amid widespread layoffs.
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