Dear Sir Chris Bryant MP and Charlotte Nichols MP,
The Game Workers Branch of the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) are writing to express our disappointment with the UK Video Games Council’s exclusion of our union and every one of the nationally registered charitable organisations working to improve the sector. We are likewise saddened by your lack of response to our previous correspondence.
The council’s present composition, with 13 of its 14 members employed by companies with central offices in London and the South of England, is clearly unrepresentative of game workers across the country.
Furthermore, a number of these groups are actively investing in automated software and AI applications to ‘empower’ developers and ‘optimise’ modes of production. In reality, such ‘empowerment’ and ‘optimisation’ risks replacing genuine creativity with the mediocrity of algorithms, while compounding an ongoing crisis related to technological displacement and poor regulation. A trend that has already led to thousands of game workers losing their jobs.
The UK games industry, despite contributing over £3 billion to our country’s GDP, is in a bad enough state as it is... Mass layoffs, crunch culture, wage stagnation, toxic work environments, and rampant job insecurity are driving talent abroad or away from creating video games altogether. Yet, the UK Video Games Council includes no trade unions, no worker representatives, and no voices from grassroots initiatives, that have supported vulnerable workers for years.
How can a body responsible for shaping the future of digital play ignore the very people making video games?
Additionally, this exclusion contradicts the government’s own pledges. The Fair Pay Agreements in social care involved union consultation, and the Prime Minister has repeatedly emphasised the need for “partnership with workers” to rebuild industries.
If the UK Video Games Council is serious about securing our country’s position as a global leader, it must:
- Include a council member nominated by the IWGB Game Workers union.
- Expand council membership to include relevant UK charitable organisations.
- Ensure better regional representation beyond London and the South of England.
- Publicly address our concerns.
Game workers in the UK deserve to be listened to and to have a seat at the table. We urge you to acknowledge us.
In solidarity,
IWGB Game Workers