Behind the Video-Game Layoffs: Players’ Love of Old Favorites

With video-game players increasingly sticking with the titles they’ve been hooked on for years, leaders in the $184 billionindustry are cutting thousands of staffers and canceling 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.

Riot Chief Executive Officer Dylan Jadeja cut 530 positions in January, saying the company needed to focus on the “core of our business,” including existing hits like 2009’s League of Legends. Management has to “make hard choices when our bets ...