I actually think you'd find the process of making a game a little seperated from the actual game itself. Especially in larger teams. The reasons anyone would leave a company at any time can be very varied and have lots of factors involved based on the person and the company in question. As I mentioned, I'm still at the first company I got hired at, so what I say here is mostly from hearsay or what-have-you. -Lay offs. Being laid off is different from being fired. It means the company is forced to cut its costs, which means getting rid of people that they wouldn't necessarily want to. This happens fairly often at large and small studios alike. The only thing you can really do in these kinds of situations is just try your hardest to make yourself so important to the team, they can't afford to lose you. My company has actually gone through 3 lay off periods in the last 3 years I've been working here, and so far (knock on wood) I'm still here! -Being purchased. If your studio is suddenly bought out by another one, any number of things could happen, depending on what the new boss wants. One of the most common things that happens when a studio is purchased is whatever project they were working on, pretty much automatically gets cancelled. That can be pretty disapointing, as I have found out a couple times now. And it may cause someone to leave for that reason or even cause lay offs. -Money. This is probably the most common reason someone would leave a company by their own decision. They aren't satisfied with their current salary and manage to land a job with a higher one somewhere else. -Boredom. This is what I mentioned earlier. I could imagine myself getting very bored making World War II games if that's all my studio ever made. After making yet another Brothers In Arms game, making another tank or a Nazi soldier again... Yeah, I could see looking for new opportunities in that situation, even if it means leaving what could be considered a "sure thing." And of course, if you suck and do a bad job... you could get fired. lol All I can say is make sure you look at what games a studio has made in the past when you consider applying to them, as more than likely, they'll make similar titles in the future.