In the year 2025 European game development houses dramatically increased the amount of money they allocated to external talent, posting a 63 percent rise in spend on outsourced roles. This surge outstripped the overall industry’s growth, which was measured at 55 percent for the same period. The figures come from the newly released "Talent Signals Reshaping the Games Industry" analysis, authored by Tanja Loktionova, founder of Values Value and co‑founder of InGame Job. The report highlights a notable expansion in the freelance workforce that partners with European studios.
The number of independent contractors engaged by these companies grew by roughly a quarter – a 24 percent increase compared with the previous year. At the same time, the average earnings of freelancers worldwide saw a healthy uplift of 19 percent, indicating that the market is rewarding external expertise more generously than before. Despite the upbeat financial indicators, the data also reveals a series of persistent challenges. Close to six out of ten studios (about 60 percent) reported that locating qualified specialists remains a significant obstacle.
On the other side of the equation, more than half of freelancers – 54.1 percent – said they encounter difficulties in finding projects that match their skill set and career aspirations. Even though the average monthly income for freelancers rose by 19 percent on a global scale, concerns about financial stability have not vanished.
Almost two‑thirds of the freelance cohort (approximately 63 percent) expressed ongoing worries about the reliability of their earnings, suggesting that higher pay does not automatically translate into greater security. The broader labor market within the games sector appears to be under pressure as well. Thirty percent of survey respondents disclosed that they had experienced a layoff at some point during the past twelve months.
For those individuals, the typical time required to land a new position stretched to about six months, underscoring a relatively protracted re‑employment cycle. Job mobility expectations are high: half of the participants indicated they anticipate changing employers within the next half‑year, and fewer than 50 percent reported feeling satisfied with their current roles.
Professional development also looks uneven. Only 26 percent of respondents felt that they were making meaningful progress in their careers, while 36 percent described their situation as stagnant.
Moreover, a striking 55 percent said they had not received any formal training or upskilling opportunities over the previous year. Loktionova interpreted these findings as a "structural signal that the industry has matured past its growth‑at‑any‑cost phase and has not yet figured out what replaces it." In other words, the sector is transitioning away from a period of unchecked expansion and is now grappling with how to organize talent and compensation in a more sustainable way. One emerging pattern identified in the study is the formation of a two‑tier team architecture within studios.
At the top of this hierarchy sits a relatively small core group consisting of directors, lead architects, and other key figures who safeguard the creative continuity of a franchise. These core members typically enjoy equity stakes, comprehensive health benefits, and performance bonuses.
Around this nucleus, a broader ring of contractors and freelancers is assembled on a project‑by‑project basis. These peripheral workers are brought in for specific development sprints or phases and are often released once those milestones are completed, according to Loktionova.
The report also touches on the growing anxiety surrounding generative artificial intelligence. Sixty‑one percent of European developers voiced concerns that AI tools could increase pressure to accelerate production schedules and deliver larger volumes of content. Conversely, 35 percent of respondents feared that AI might actually diminish demand for their roles or even render certain jobs obsolete. Taken together, these insights paint a picture of an industry in flux.
While financial investment in external talent is climbing and freelancers are seeing higher paychecks, the underlying ecosystem is still wrestling with talent scarcity, job security, and the looming impact of automation. Studios appear to be experimenting with a hybrid staffing model that blends a stable, well‑compensated core team with a flexible, project‑oriented freelance layer. How this model evolves, and whether it can address the concerns of both employers and independent creators, will likely shape the next phase of growth for European game development.