This year The Game Awards finally tackled the plague of game industry layoffs

For the first time, Geoff Keighley used his platform at The Game Awards to address head-on the plague of layoffs that have decimated the videogame industry over the past two years.

“The sad reality is that over the past few years the gaming industry has suffered significant and unprecedented industry-wide layoffs,” Keighley said.

“Those affect the games we get to play and even more importantly, the people who make the games we love. We can debate and certainly disagree with the reasons why, and honesty as a show, we kind of struggle with how to address these topics in a constructive way.”

But this year, Keighley said The Game Awards “found greatness” in Amir Satvat, selected as the recipient of the first-ever Game Changer award for his work in helping thousands of laid-off developers find their way back to the industry. Amir’s Games Jobs Resources website contains a wealth of information and assistance including support postings, career planning, job listings, and networking.

“To all game makers everywhere, you are seen and treasured, and our community will always be there to help you,” Amir said during his acceptance speech. “Over the last three years, we’ve lost more than 34,000 jobs, a staggering amount of games experience eliminated. This has consequences. You can’t make great games without great people.”