Sad news this week from 2 major developers – both Maxis and Raven reported sizable staff cuts were made.  Raven apparently laid off about 1/3 (they were at 180 employees) of its staff, and Activision has commented that the studio is scaling back to only having 2 games in development at any given time.  Shacknews followed up that bad news by reporting that Maxis had also laid off a “sizable” portion of its staff.

This is, sadly, nothing new in the game industry.  I’ve personally been affected by a round of layoffs in the past (from EA in 06), and I have a pretty good idea what these people are going through.  Even if you have an idea that things might not be going well at your studio, it still feels like a punch in the gut when you hear the news.  I was luckily able to land on my feet relatively quickly, and I’m hoping all of the previous Maxis and Raven employees can do the same.

So what’s a smart first step if you’ve been affected?  It’s been said countless times before, but I think it’s always worth repeating – lean on your friends and contacts.  It’s a relatively small industry, and I’ve found that even loose contacts generally like to be helpful.  If there’s a local IGDA chapter in your area, show up to the next meeting and let people know you’re looking.  Call friends or old co-workers at other studios and see if they’re hiring, or if they know anyone that is.  Using a job board like GameJobHunter should be a part of your search, but I’ll freely admit that a personal contact at a studio is always going to be your best lead.

I’m in touch with a lot of studio recruiters who post jobs on our site – if you were at Maxis or Raven and you’re looking for any leads, feel free to drop us a line (support at gamejobhunter dot com).  I’m not fishing for referral fees or anything, I’m happy to set up an intro or pass along a resume if it can help.