Layoffs often happen once a game is shipped. Maybe they are getting that one game they were working on before the pandemic shipped, then laying a bunch of people off and rethinking their game plan.
Anecdata: I personally have been laid off from 3 different game studios, each time it was just after one of the games I was working on had shipped. I finally decided my dream industry was a little too dysfunctional to stay in it, and left it after the third time. I only make video games in my spare time, now.
Although I've worked for a few enterprise organizations since then, and so far I've seen nothing but dysfunction in them, too, so maybe it's just endemic all over. Like at my current company, which managed to drop from its all-time-high stock price a whopping 93% over the past year and a half, for many good reasons. But at least I get paid more.
Anecdata: I personally have been laid off from 3 different game studios, each time it was just after one of the games I was working on had shipped. I finally decided my dream industry was a little too dysfunctional to stay in it, and left it after the third time. I only make video games in my spare time, now.
Although I've worked for a few enterprise organizations since then, and so far I've seen nothing but dysfunction in them, too, so maybe it's just endemic all over. Like at my current company, which managed to drop from its all-time-high stock price a whopping 93% over the past year and a half, for many good reasons. But at least I get paid more.
This article also discusses the tendency, and how infuriating it can be: https://kotaku.com/why-game-developers-keep-getting-laid-off...