Video game workers from multiple unions across Europe have released a joint statement pledging a “united front” against industry exploitation.
Last month, representatives from six gaming trade unions met in Paris for a summit hosted by French trade union Syndica des Travailleuses du Jeu Video (STJV) to discuss the challenges facing the gaming industry. It is now demanding better working conditions without the threat of dismissal, the elimination of AI, and the elimination of “authoritarian misgovernment.”
“Our jobs are being threatened, our right to have a voice in the workplace is being denied, and policies like 'return to the office' and tools like generative AI are being forced on us, even as they worsen working conditions,” the joint statement said.
“Multinational companies already operate all over the world. Gaming workers already collaborate across borders. So it follows that unions will also need to organize across borders.”
This statement comes from unions in the United Kingdom (IWGB Game Workers), France (STJV), Ireland (Game Workers Unite Ireland), Germany (ver.di Game Devs Roundtable), Italy (FIOM-CGIL Milan Work Council), and Spain (Coordinadora Sindical del Videojuego). This follows a joint meeting and solidarity protest held in front of the Paris office of Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive after 31 members of the Grand Theft Auto maker were fired.
“From these meetings, one thing became abundantly clear: Together, workers can transform their jobs, careers, and lives for the better,” the statement continued. “We can do something and we will. We are committed to strengthening inter-union cooperation in the short and long term and remaining united in the face of everything that is happening in our industry and in the world.”
Mass layoffs have rocked the video game industry around the world in recent years. According to one count, 15,000 workers will lose their jobs in 2023, another 14,000 in 2024, and an estimated 53,000 people have lost their jobs so far this year. This comes on top of reports of mismanagement and widespread use of AI technology at MindsEye studio Build A Rocket Boy, for example, with EA CEO Andrew Wilson saying AI is “at the very heart of our business”.
“This is a historic milestone for the video game industry,” said IWGB Gaming Workers' Representative Scott Alsworth. “For the first time, we've seen gaming industry workers organizing across borders, coordinating campaigns, and standing together in solidarity. For years, there has been a climate of collective isolation and fear, and many have felt powerless and divided in the face of seemingly unstoppable conglomerates. But now, as we direct politics in our workplaces, we are relearning the struggles of the past in the face of adversity. There is indeed strength in unity.”
The IWGB gaming union has been committed to supporting Rockstar employees who were controversially fired in October. The union launched a legal claim against the alleged unfair dismissal and submitted it to the UK Parliament.
Then there were reports that a Rockstar employee was fired for sharing an internal message on a Discord server dedicated to employees and the union.
