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Data Cruncher Moonlights as Headhunter for Video-Game Workers

Game publishers are shutting down studios and firing workers as they address the twin problems of rising development costs and tepid sales growth. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg (Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- More than 12,000 people have been laid off in the video-game business this year. Any one of them who Googles resources for industry jobs will see Amir Satvat’s name at the top of their results. 

Satvat is the de facto video-game job matchmaker, a role he appointed himself to after seeing post after post from colleagues sharing sad news about layoffs. By day, Satvat is a business development director for Tencent Games, helping game developers get funding for their projects. By night, he is automating data to fill spreadsheets with over 15,000 job opportunities at companies like Ubisoft Entertainment SA, Electronic Arts Inc. and Microsoft Corp., which announced 650 more cuts in its Xbox division Thursday.

Through his personal website website, LinkedIn page and other outlets, Satvat has helped connect thousands of job seekers with employers.  He estimates that over 100,000 people access his job materials every day, and 2,600 have found work since he began the effort two years ago. The fact that he doesn’t charge for listings or referrals has helped him build a large network.

“My secret weapon is that I do this for free,” Satvat said in an interview.

The video-game industry is in a period of retrenchment. Game publishers are shutting down studios and firing workers as they address the twin problems of rising development costs and tepid sales growth. Pricey bets on big new hits have failed, while fans keep playing the same old favorites. By June of this year, industry layoffs had outpaced 2023’s record 10,500 cuts, according to an industry tracker. 

Jess Hartung was let go in May, when her employer, Dawon Entertainment, shut down. It was her second layoff in the industry and she had no severance package.  Then, one of her new connections through Satvat's network surfaced a listing for a product manager at Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.’s 2K division.

“I ended up with three offers,” she said in an interview, and took the one at 2K.

The video-game business has always suffered from employee churn. But in 2022, after the industry’s pandemic-induced highs, Satvat realized something more severe was happening. Right before Thanksgiving, several of his friends received dismissal notices. He thought, “This is unacceptable — having people who work so hard being laid off before the holiday. How can I help?”

Satvat and a small crew of volunteers now operate a virtual job emporium. They curate a network of coaches, resume reviewers, job listings and other resources on behalf of out-or-work colleagues. In his 5,600-person Discord group, unemployed game developers ranging from level designers and 3D artists to writers and producers post their resumes and headshots. Satvat is in regular contact with hiring managers at video-game companies and others well positioned in the industry who supply him stats or offer help.

Recruiter Christina-Marie Drake sourced candidates from Satvat’s network when she worked for Naughty Dog, the studio behind The Last of Us game. After she herself was laid off, Drake began consulting for other job candidates, reworking their resumes and staging mock interviews. In one recent case, she helped a woman who’d been unemployed for two years land three interviews and ultimately a job. 

“We may not have connected if it had not been for Amir’s work in the community,’’ Drake said.

Satvat believes the final quarter of 2024 will be the turning point for employment, when the number of hires starts to exceed layoffs.

Even then it’s likely to be a struggle. Chris Deering, a former gaming executive with Sony Group Corp., said on the My Perfect Console podcast that, while laid-off workers aren’t forced into “a lifetime of poverty or limitation,” developers may need to “drive an Uber or whatever, go off to find a cheap place to live and go to the beach for a year.” 

Satvat knows how hard it is to break into games; he didn’t until his late 30s, after years of working in technology jobs, including stints at Dell and Amazon.com Inc. He estimates that nine out of 10 who apply for work in the business won’t find a job over the next 12 months. For people with less than three years’ experience, there’s just a 2% chance they’ll land a gig in that period.

“The odds are lower than getting into Juilliard or Harvard,” he said.

That’s why job hunters in the current market are such fans of his website. “It’s been a lighthouse in the storm,” said Laura Dambuleff, whose contract marketing work at Riot Games ended in August. She’s since found work.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.