What’s behind the video-game layoffs? Players sticking with old favourites

A filepic of a gamer looking at the display for 'Call Of Duty: Black Ops II' in Universal City, California. Consumers are drawn to, and companies are focusing on, multiplayer games that can occupy people around the world for hours. — AFP

With video-game players increasingly sticking with the titles they’ve been hooked on for years, leaders in the US$184bil (RM879.52bil) industry are cutting thousands of staffers and cancelling riskier projects.

Over 6,400 video-game workers have lost their jobs over the past two months at companies such as Microsoft Corp, Embracer Group AB and Tencent Holdings Ltd’s Riot Games.