June Newsletter sharing the industry trends.

Hello ??

Exciting Summer Updates from us!

We're thrilled that summer has finally arrived! June has been a bustling month for us, and we're excited to share some intriguing updates and trends we've observed in the industry.

Traditionally, June sees a slowdown in recruitment activities as many studios prepare for the summer break. We seized this opportunity to visit studios in Helsinki and Barcelona to discuss emerging trends, and here are our key takeaways.

In the first half of the year, studios primarily focused on maximizing revenue from existing games and IPs. However, there's a noticeable shift now: studios are cautiously developing new projects. They are not hiring new talent for these projects until they see positive results from initial soft launches, which is a promising sign for the industry!

Additionally, there's a growing demand for talent with experience in developing successful games from scratch. While opportunities for LiveOps expertise are fewer, skills in building games from the ground up are increasingly sought after.

Visiting Games Hub Barcelona?

We had an opportunity to visit our friendly studios in Barcelona while getting ready to host Career Area at HIT Games Barcelona conference.?

Our CEO, Oleg Paliy dedicated the whole week and visited Product Madness ???? , Rovio Entertainment , ZeptoLab , Bandai Namco Mobile , 趣加游戏 , GameHouse , Anchor Point Studios , Sandsoft

Some interesting observations from the visit.

Companies are beginning to invest in new projects and are actively seeking talent with a track record of developing successful games from scratch. Notably, some studios are experimenting with smaller teams, giving them a 6-9 month runway to prove their concepts. This approach allows for new project investments with reduced financial risk.

Moreover, studios are now prioritizing a broader range of skills. There is a growing emphasis on proficiency in AI, VR/AR development, and cross-platform capabilities.

While remote work has become the norm, many studios still maintain a policy of at least two days in the office or office access on demand for essential meetings. Remote-first studios are excelling in talent attraction by expanding their talent pool beyond geographic limitations.

Career Area at HIT Games

We have joined our forces with HIT Games Conference to bring studios and talents closer to each other and facilitate meaningful connections between the right individuals and growing studios. The HIT Games Career Area offered a dedicated recruitment hub at the conference for onsite and online ticket holders on June 22-23rd.?

Check the link for more details: https://talents.games/hit-games-barcelona-2024

Powered by Games Factory Talents digital platform that streamlines the process of match making attendees/job seekers with career opportunities on the skills and specialities level. The platform allowed online and onsite attendees to join the match making the platform to see relevant job opportunities.

Some stats from hosting Career Area:

• Applications received: 470
• Admitted: 161
• Matched: 105
• Expressed interest: 45
• Onsite CV reviews: 7

We are happy that together with HIT Games we brought studios and talents closer to each other and facilitated meaningful connections.

We also had great time hosting the Panel at the conference to deep dive into the Talent Quest: Recruiting and Growing Talent in the Gaming Sector.

Our goal was to provide suggestions for how talents can move forward and optimise their hunt for opportunities in these turbulent times.

We gathered there some fantastic panelists Aurélie Bauzou ?? MWC/4YFN Barcelona , Conxi Perez Andreu , Thomas Lemesle , Monika Michalak

Here's are the takeaways from the panel:

?Market trends to pay attention to:

• Job security does not exist even at the bigger studios.
• Many new projects have been cancelled, yet we see that studios are cautiously investing into making new games now.
• The focus for studios remains to be on scaling existing products.
• Less job opportunities pushes professionals are seeking stability outside of the industry.?

What can and should I do as a talent?

For more senior talents:

• ?Shifting from a specialist towards generalist to broaden your options.
• Partner up with a talent agency that can give some practical tips on the skills in demand and how to adjust your search.
• Consider joining an indie studio and oversee the whole process of game development and have your direct influence on it.?

For more junior talents

• ?Read the job description and adjust your CV accordingly (re-use the keywords)
• Flexibility, be open to take broader responsibilities and embrace the learning opportunities.

?For everyone:

• If you use cover letters? make sure it’s not general and focuses on the current role e.g. why you would be a perfect fit for the role.
• Job security does not exist even at the bigger studios.
• Many new projects have been cancelled, yet we see that studios are cautiously investing into making new games now.
• The focus for studios remains to be on scaling existing products.
• Less job opportunities pushes professionals are seeking stability outside of the industry.

Featured Videos from Games Job Fair Spring

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Stay tuned for more updates and enjoy the summer!