Tzardok  PStrife The gaming industry is indeed a hard place to be, and it is extremely complicated since there are many factors that can contribute company A to fail, succeed, etc.

I remember when I was in business class the teacher was asking what type of business were kind of recession proof; the students gave many examples (some valid and some not), and I remember the teacher saying that the gaming industry was, more or less, a good example of a recession proof business. He actually brought up an example that resembled yours, and he mentioned that people often go to the entertainment industry as a escape from reality.

Aside from the example I was talking, the reality is different; if a studio (with good intentions towards its employees) have no money (from the publisher or from its banking account), or means of keep making money at all (via new projects, in game sales, Kickstarter, lottery, etc), then a lot of the workers are going to be sent home.

Not trying to be offensive towards you or undermine your comment, but I think Kotaku, Neogaf and maybe Gamasutra and/or Gamesindustry will show you that the gaming industry has been hit hard since mid 2000′s or early. On the other hand, the good thing about the gaming industry is for every studio studio that fail, maybe more than one will come pick up.