Anyone looking for a job as a game developer currently needs luck. At least that’s what a former developer at Rockstar Games says, who has great difficulty finding work in the industry today despite a strong portfolio.
Who is this developer? This is Rob Carr, who looks back on a 20-year career in the gaming industry – 9 of those years at Rockstar Games. As an audio designer, he has contributed to some of the studio’s most notable games, including L.A. Noire, GTA 5, and Red Dead Redemption (both Part 1 and Part 2).
In 2016, Carr left Rockstar Games. He now lives in Finland, where he is working on his own game: Nyrkkipöytä. Despite his impressive resume, he is having trouble finding a new job. He has been unemployed for over a year, as explained in an interview with KIWI TALKZ on March 28, 2026. You can watch the full interview as a YouTube video.
“It’s a toss of a coin at this point”
What does the developer say about the current situation in the gaming industry? Finding a job in the gaming industry right now is above all a matter of luck. “my 20-year tenure is no longer good enough for me to get a job whereas 5 years ago it was,” says Carr.
I got 20 years industry experience, I’ve worked on some of the biggest titles in the world, but there’s 35 other guys with the exact same amount of experience and tenure and projects behind them as I’ve got.
Carr reports on several application processes he went through where he was not selected. “When I asked for feedback, it often went like this: “When I’ve asked for feedback, it was like: ‘We dont really have any’, you know? It’s a toss of a coin at this point”
Currently, it also seems that even the success of a game does not protect its developers from being laid off:
- Battlefield 6 celebrated a record launch; nevertheless, several developers from all involved studios were laid off in March 2026, as reported by IGN Germany
- In the same month, Epic Games laid off over 1,000 employees shortly after raising prices for V-Bucks in Fortnite
The current layoffs in the gaming industry are once again sparking significant discussions. A Valve veteran recently voiced sharp criticism against the CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney. You can read more about it in our article on MeinMMO: Former Valve employee criticizes Epic Games CEO over layoffs: “Gabe can do it better than you”
