One thing I keep coming back to though is maybe I should try to reconnect with some of these people that I once knew,

That is a good idea. Never know, you might end up back there again on your next gig!

Have you ever gotten back in touch with old friends that you did this to, how did they take it when you tried to contact them?

In fact I looked up a colleague from 6 years ago last week, found out we’re in the same region and scheduled kebabs next week. I just cold emailed them and said “Hey Teo, how you been? I was reading about (gamedev interest we share) and thought of you!”