🚨 Meta and Epic add 1,700 gaming job cuts in one week

Epic Games let go of 1,000 people. Meta let go of 700. Those are real careers, real teams, real people who built things they were proud of.

Before the industry analysis, that deserves to be said.

Now here's what I think matters for anyone in that situation right now.

These were two completely different cuts.

Epic Games's problem was Fortnite engagement. Revenue wasn't keeping up with spend. That is a product and content challenge, not an industry collapse.

Meta's cuts hit Reality Labs, recruiting and sales while the company commits up to $169 billion to AI infrastructure in 2026. That is a strategic reallocation, not a retreat.

The skills walking out of both companies are not the skills the industry is moving away from. They are exactly the skills the rest of mobile gaming is trying to find.

UA. Product. Live ops. Content strategy. Ad sales. Data and measurement.

Scopely is on an acquisition spree and openly building its studio roster. Supercell has been investing in new studios. Publishers like Voodoo, Supersonic and the newly launched Arcade are all scaling. The rewarded and performance advertising space is growing, not contracting.

1,700 people just became available. The mobile gaming companies that move quickly here will be the ones that come out of 2026 stronger.

📣 If you were affected and you're in UA, ad tech, live ops or product, I'm happy to make introductions where I can. Drop a comment or send me a message.