Tag: Blog post

One Industry, One Fight

Blog, Statement

Video Game Unions Present a United Front Across Western Europe

Game workers everywhere have many problems in common. Our jobs are under threat, we are denied a voice in our workplaces, and policies such as ‘return to office’ and tools like generative AI are being forced upon us, even though they degrade our working conditions.

We demand equity for all and stable careers; free from layoffs, free from the imposition of automated content creation, and free from authoritarian mismanagement.

Multinational companies already operate globally. Game workers already collaborate transnationally. It follows, then, that unions must also organise across borders.

Our unions met in Paris last month. Together, we protested in support of fellow workers fired by Rockstar Games for exercising their legal right to unionise. We shared knowledge, talked about strategies and techniques, and discussed solutions to the challenges we share. More importantly, our working group set out concrete actions for the near future.

From these meetings, one thing became absolutely clear: that together, workers can transform their jobs, their careers, and their lives for the better.

We can do something, and we will.

We vow to increase cooperation between our unions in both the short and long term, and to stay united in front of all that’s going on in our industry and the world.

Organise and fight for your rights!

 

Coordinadora Sindical del Videojuego – CGT (Spain)
FIOM-CGIL Milan Work Council (Italy)
ver.di Game Devs Roundtable (Germany)
Game Workers Unite Ireland – FSU (Ireland)
IWGB Game Workers (United Kingdom)
Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo (France)

An IWGB Game Workers sticker appears in front of the Build a Rocket Boy office. A neon sign depicting the name of the studio appears in the background.

Open Letter to the Executive Leadership at Build A Rocket Boy

Blog, Campaigns

Employees and ex-employees at Build A Rocket Boy (BARB), together with the Game Workers Branch of the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB), are writing to address the longstanding disrespect and mistreatment of your staff. For years, you have expected them to adapt to your every whim, with those in disagreement being shut down or cast aside. We estimate a UK-majority of 250-300 workers across the company have now lost their livelihoods. These layoffs happened because you repeatedly refused to listen to your workforce’s years of experience, resulting in one of the worst video game launches this decade.

Here are just a few of the many issues we have faced under your management:

Lack of transparency and communication. You have consistently failed to effectively communicate with the workers whose expertise the company relies on. Information has been sparse and vague, with you often making radical changes to the way we worked with little or no input from those affected.

Unbearable levels of overtime. In the 4 months leading up to the launch of MindsEye, you implemented a mandatory 8 hours of overtime per week for every single employee. Time Off In Lieu (TOIL) was given at a rate of 7 hours back for every 8 hours worked, but many have still not been able to take this time off due to your continued requests for extra “high-priority” work, even after launch.

Disastrous handling of redundancies. We believe you have consistently mishandled the redundancy process, causing confusion and distress for all staff. Employees have received misinformation, been handed dismissal notices with the wrong notice periods, and been put in the wrong teams so that their performances were scored by the wrong people. These and other errors have potentially resulted in the wrongful dismissal of dozens of staff members.

These and many other issues, some of which have been made public already, have caused pain and stress for your employees. Our experience at the company has been one of burnout, job insecurity, health issues, and the failure of a game that many of us have put years of our lives into. BARB needs to change. CEOs need to take a backseat and allow the skilled people who remain at the company to forge the path ahead. We demand the following:

  1. A public apology for this mistreatment of employees and proper compensation for laid-off employees;
  1. The option for remaining employees on redundancy notice to either work their notice period or take Payment in Lieu of Notice (PILON);
  1. A concerted, meaningful, and documented effort to improve conditions and processes within the company, including the acknowledgement of the IWGB as a trade union;
  1. A commitment to use official external partners to action any future redundancies and prevent unfair treatment.

Mark Gerhard and Leslie Benzies, you often refer to your employees as “family”. But we ask you to consider; is this really how you treat your own?

In solidarity,

93 BARB Employees and Ex-Employees ︱ IWGB Game Workers

Open Letter Regarding the UK Video Games Council

Blog

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:

  1. Include a council member nominated by the IWGB Game Workers union.
  2. Expand council membership to include relevant UK charitable organisations.
  3. Ensure better regional representation beyond London and the South of England.
  4. 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