[cableshaft]

Nowhere near as much as it used to be. A lot of companies shuttered and talent left the area a couple of decades ago. Off the top of my head, the main companies that are still in the area are NetherRealm, Wargaming.net, Barbaroga, WMS Gaming, JackBox, Iron Galaxy, and in the suburbs are Raw Thrills, Incredible Technologies, Play Mechanix, and High Voltage. That might be it.

Only a few of those companies seem to be actively hiring.

Midway closed (and part of it became NetherRealm), there used to be an Electronic Arts office, a Disney Interactive office, Robomodo, Sega was around when they did arcade games, Game Refuge might still exist but it's barely still kicking, Yuke's used to have a satellite office here but that shut down, probably a bunch of others, but nowadays it's difficult to be a game dev and live in Chicago. Part of the reason I'm not in the industry anymore.