"The discussion has gone from 'it'll be better in 2024', to '2025 looks like it will be difficult', to 'oh god, what is 2026 going to be like'," Karl Magnus Troedsson told Svenska Dagbladet (SvD).
Troedsson is founder and partner of games-focused risk capital company Behold Ventures, and former CEO of Swedish games company DICE.
"It's natural that you reassess the size of your staff," he said, "but what we're seeing now is much larger. It's a negative perfect storm."
The tempest has among other things already claimed games company Cult of the North, which went bankrupt last week despite an investment of 106 million kronor just two years ago. It had 30 staff.
"The funding's gone. The studio is dying," its founder Adam Schaub wrote on LinkedIn.
For years, gaming has been one of Sweden's largest exports, with the gaming industry employing thousands in recent years. Many of those are international workers on work permits.
One of The Local's readers, from a non-EU country, said that the situation is "very bad".
"I am currently in a lot of stress due to experiencing multiple [employer] bankruptcies lately and due to the fact that my work permit is close to being revoked."
He added that he has been looking for a job for six months with little success.
"I got a few interviews amidst a multitude of applications, with the majority of them ending in ghosting. The situation is indeed very bad."
He said that he would expect to have found something by now, due to his experience and passion for his work.
"Instead, I’m on the verge of being forced to uplift my whole life back to the other side of the world, and to leave my current future plans behind."
"It sucks. Although the industry is tough (or in literal flames), it would be much less stressful if Swedish migration rules were more considerate. The time to find another job is too small and doesn’t even allow you to use your a-kassa [unemployment insurance] properly."
The reader said that he has several colleagues in the same situation, and that some of them have already left the country.
"In the end, awesome people and talent gets pushed away."
Another reader, who did not want to use his real name, also confirmed to The Local that he has worked at more than one gaming company in Stockholm that has gone bankrupt. He also comes from outside the EU and is on a work permit.
According to Bloomberg, major gaming company King, which is behind Candy Crush, is letting 200 people go, with the Unionen union confirming to SvD that 96 of those roles will be in Stockholm.
"A lot of people are shocked," union ombudsman Dag Bremberg told the newspaper. "A large amount of those affected are foreign citizens whose residence permits rely on them having work in Sweden."
Bremberg told SvD that Unionen has over 400 members and a local union club at King. Discussions about signing a collective bargaining agreement have been ongoing for some time, he said, although this has not yet happened.
Bremberg added that King is now attempting to get employees to resign voluntarily with a deadline of July 18th to accept or reject the offer.
"Buyouts, I guess you could say," Bremberg said. "There are a lot of people who are disappointed about what is being offered, people who have been working there for a long time and who expected more. What happens if they say no to the offer?"
King has been part of Microsoft since 2023. Microsoft announced plans to reduce staff across the company by over 17,000, confirming to SvD that this includes part of the gaming side of the company. It would not confirm specific figures.
Per Strömbäck, from Dataspelsbranschen, Sweden's trade association for video game companies, agreed that the labour market in the gaming industry has seen a clear shift.
"Many of our members said previously that they had to look for people to fill their empty positions. Now they're getting a lot of qualified applications," he told SvD.
Unlike Troedsson, he didn't describe the situation as a crisis, but did agree that times are tougher.
"The years of major investments are behind us," he said, adding that large financial input from China and North America had in particular dried up.
"The big companies in our industry are focusing more on consolidation now than starting something new. All the factors that were previously driving growth are pointing in the other direction now," he said.
Do you work at one of the game companies undergoing layoffs or are you otherwise affected? Get in touch with us at news@thelocal.se – you have the right to be anonymous.
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