Despite frequent reports of massive layoffs of game studios over the past year, the Game Developer Industry Census of 2009 has reported that employment for the game industry in North America has slightly risen from 2008. The census, in its third annual year, credited the rise to new Canadian studios and a rise in social and online gaming developers.
According to the numbers, employment in the industry from the US rose slightly from 44,400 in 2008 to 44.806 this year. The census shows that while big developers like EA, THQ, and Activision Blizzard were laying-off and closing down entire studios all over the place, new studios for casual and online gaming were popping up throughout the country. This brought about a counterbalance to the massive layoffs.
Canada saw a much bigger increase with employment rising 30 percent. The country now has 12,480 employed in 2009 over the 9,500 recorded in 2008. This is due in part to the creation of Canadian studios by Ubisoft, THQ, and Funcom.
For more information check out the full census, which can be purchased at the Game Developer’s store for a mere $2,500.
[Kotaku]
