The movers and shakers of the video game industry will gather Thursday in Los Angeles to celebrate the annual Game Awards, the sector's equivalent of the Oscars.

But no amount of glitz and glamour can put a sheen on what has been one of the worst years in the industry's history, marked by waves of layoffs and studio closures.

"Game industry continues to be just incredibly bleak behind the scenes," Mike Bithell, who heads a small British studio, posted on the Bluesky social network this month.

"Ecosystem is in free fall. Doubt there'll be an easy solution, or a quick one. This darkest hour has dragged out to a darkest couple of years."

At least 14,500 people in the sector were laid off worldwide in 2024, up from 10,500 in 2023, according to the Game Industry Layoffs website.

Many studios have also closed their doors.

In recent months, French giant Ubisoft announced it would close its branches in San Francisco and Osaka.

Sony-owned US studio Firewalk -- behind this year's spectacular flop "Concord" -- met a similar fate in October.

Yet the market is still growing and generated $188 billion in revenue in 2024,........

© International Business Times