The games industry is in the middle of a seismic shift. With over 30,000 job cuts to date, redundancies and studio closures are widespread and ongoing. The cuts aren’t just affecting smaller indies—big publishers are also laying off teams and canceling projects.
During these turbulent times, Amir Satvat has emerged as an unlikely hero. By day, he’s a business development director for Tencent Games, where he’s responsible for assessing games companies for investment. His contributions to the industry extend far beyond his corporate role, though.
Network engineering
Since the industry layoffs began, Satvat has been working tirelessly to support those affected. His comprehensive online support system includes LinkedIn, Discord and a dedicated site, amirsatvat.com.
Together, these channels provide significant resources for industry professionals affected by redundancy. His site, for example, has 19 resources which take a holistic approach to employment, with a focus on community coaching, free event tickets and more. Creating this variety of resources was all prompted by direct community feedback, he said.
The jobs section of the site lists over 14,000 roles, which Satvat says is the largest free games network in the world, covering quite nearly every role in the industry.
“We started with one games jobs workbook on LinkedIn and 5,000 followers. Now, we have over 95,000 followers on LinkedIn, a Discord community of over 5,500 people, and amirsatvat.com—three homes,” he said.
Satvat’s community also contains over 2,300 community coaches across 4 services.
His resources, at a glance:
A personal journey to the games industry
Satvat’s dedication to the community stems from his challenging decade-and-a-half journey breaking into the industry.
Based in the Northeast United States, Amir was determined to get a job in games without compromising on his family location.
This was challenging, as remote roles were few and far between at the time. He didn’t give up, and through a mix of persistence, continual self-improvement and a relentlessly positive attitude, got there in the end.
This experience shaped his belief that preparation is key, which is why his resources focus on the wider skills jobseekers need to land their dream job.
Satvat reiterates the importance of community-building and empathy in rebuilding the industry.
“That can be as simple as taking the time to listen to colleagues who are having a hard time,” he said, and stressed how important it is to connect with recruiters and hiring managers. This can greatly increase the chances of hearing about, and landing a new job.
Amir’s approach is working. His resources and constant updates on LinkedIn and Discord have helped more than 2,500 people find jobs and sparked 46,000 coaching sessions.
If you are in the industry and have been affected by layoffs, or if you’re looking to make your move into gaming and don’t know where to start, follow Amir Satvat on LinkedIn here.
