Posted on Tuesday, March 4, 2025
Story by Jean-Eric Hénault | Image credit by Mitchell Stuart
The past year has been tough for the visual effects, animation, and video game industries, with major layoffs shaking the workforce. But it's not all doom and gloom—despite the hardship, there’s good news ahead. History has shown that our industry moves in cycles, with periods of disruption followed by reinvention. And right now, we’re on the verge of a transformative era filled with new opportunities.
This is not the first time we’ve seen job losses on a large scale. The rise of digital production in the early 2000s changed how films were made, leading to shifts in employment. The gaming industry has also experienced multiple downturns, followed by explosive periods of growth driven by new platforms and technologies. We are once again at such a turning point.
The biggest driver of change today is artificial intelligence (AI) and other new production technologies. AI-powered tools are already reshaping workflows, automating tasks that once required days of manual labor. This raises legitimate concerns—many fear that AI will replace jobs, making human artists obsolete. However, speaking with professionals across the industry, a different picture emerges.
AI is not just a disruptor; it is also an enabler. By increasing efficiency, artists and developers will be able to create more, faster, and at a higher quality. The bottlenecks that have long plagued production—tight deadlines, limited resources, and overworked teams—are being challenged. With the right approach, this new efficiency will lead to more demand, not less. As projects become more feasible, studios will take on ambitious ideas that might have been impossible before, creating new roles and specialties that don’t exist today.
Perhaps the most exciting shift is the democratization of high-end production. For decades, only major studios with massive budgets could create top-tier films, games, and animations. But with AI-assisted workflows, real-time engines, and cloud-based collaboration, small teams and independent creators now have access to tools that rival those of the biggest studios. This means a new wave of independent productions that can compete at the highest level.
For the first time, smaller producers and solo creators can take ownership of their intellectual property (IP) and build long-term equity for themselves. No longer reliant on large studios to bring their ideas to life, talented artists and developers can now create, distribute, and monetize their own work on a global scale. This shift will give rise to a new generation of creative entrepreneurs—filmmakers, game developers, and animators who own their creations and shape the industry on their own terms.
This is exactly why ADAPT.one exists—to unite like-minded creatives, helping them network, collaborate, and ultimately produce their own projects. Our freelancing platform is more than just a place to find work; it’s a launchpad for independent creators to build sustainable careers, learn from industry professionals, and develop original IPs. As part of this mission, 1% of all revenues generated by ADAPT.one will go toward funding our members’ projects, ensuring that great ideas have the support they need to become reality.
The key to thriving in this new era is adaptability. Those who embrace new tools, learn emerging skills, and find innovative ways to apply their creativity will be the pioneers of the next generation. The industry is not dying—it is transforming. And in that transformation lies enormous opportunity.
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