- 2023 has featured some of the best games in the industry.
- While the year has been great for games, it hasn’t been great for many game studios.
- 27 game studios have been closed in 2023 due to various reasons.
2023 has been a great year for gaming. It was one of the best, if not the best, year for gaming due to the amazing line-up of games. There were great first-party and third-party games that managed to excite the fandom.
Due to that, the competition at The Game Awards was extreme. While Baldur’s Gate 3 won, other games like Alan Wake 2 and Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom also had chances. As the year has been good for gaming, it hasn’t been good for the studios.
The developers worked hard to bring these games to us. However, nearly 30 studios were shut down in 2023.
Why it matters: While 2023 has brought fans some games that will go down in history, it also was a challenging year for the game developers.
Game studios shutdown in 2023.
This is a graphic showing 27 Game Studios that shut down in 2023.
This has been a difficult year for game developers. My heart goes out to everyone who lost their jobs.
Note: This is what we have info on. pic.twitter.com/9gqz2D4a7f
— PeterOvo (@PeterOvo5) December 30, 2023
The most recognized studios are Volition, Free Radical, and Mimimi Games.
These studios have released games like Saints Row, Shadow Gambit, and TimeSplitters. While the games above are not that great, they were loved by many fans. With that said, among these 27 studios, many didn’t release a single game.
While that is a wasted potential, it could have been worse if the studios had released the game without 100% certainty. We have already witnessed what happened to The Day Before and its studio.
The studio has already been closed, and now the game’s server will be shut down on 22 Jan 2024. The year 2023 was difficult for the game studios as there were many layoffs. There were many layoffs from developers as well as publishing companies.
If we look at Sony, none of their studios are on the list, but they are facing multiple layoffs, including Insomniac and Naughty Dog, while Bungie suffers the most, which could lead to closure. However, Sony might completely acquire the studio before that happens, as the studio currently works as an independent Sony subsidiary.
Conversely, despite Xbox being on an acquisition spree, none of its studios are on the game studio’s closure list, and its studios are also saved from layoffs.
We think the layoffs and the closure of studios have been very challenging for the developers. However, many studios still stand, and we hope they don’t meet the same fate. 2024 already has a strong line-up for games, so we are hoping for another great year for gaming.
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[News Editor]
Obaid is pursuing a Law degree while working as a content writer. He has worked as a gaming writer for over three years because of his passion for the medium and reporting the latest updates in the industry. Having played hundreds of games, Obaid finds himself coming back to Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, and Red Dead Redemption 2, with these games being among his favorites. He has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as Wccftech, Metro UK, PS Lifestyle, GamePressure, VGC, and Gamespot.