Approximately half of game developers think that labor union needs, but obviously they do not have hope for realization


by Chris Liverani

In 2018, the video game industry recorded sales of more than 4.7 trillion yen in the United States alone, it seems to be a good year for the game industry in 2018, but released in 2018 A developer of " Red Dead Redemption 2 " who became a big hit confessed that "I had worked more than 100 hours a week", developed a popular title such as " Walking / Dead Season 4 " The Telltale Games that had been closing most of the studio, and the harsh working environment of the game industry attracted a lot of attention. Meanwhile, it is clear that the Game Developers Conference (GDC) is conducting questionnaire surveys for 4000 developers, and about half think that they should "unite with developers".

Only 16% of devs anti-union - Survey | GamesIndustry.biz
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-01-24-only-16-percent-of-devs-anti-union-survey

Survey Of 4,000 Game Developers Says Half Of Them Want To Unionize
https://kotaku.com/survey-of-4-000-game-developers-says-half-of-them-want-1832028417

Nearly half of game developers want to unionize
https://www.engadget.com/2019/01/24/nearly-half-of-game-developers-want-to-unionize/

In today's harsh labor environment of more than 100 hours a week or even now even a famous game studio suddenly closes , game developers demand improvement of the work environment or protect themselves from unfair layoffs I cried for the necessity of a labor union.

There are organizations like Game Workers Unite that are working towards forming unions within the game industry with the goal of "giving hope and power to people suffering in the game industry." The Game Workers Unite is also working on the GDC in 2018, and in December 2018 the British branch has been legally recognized as a labor union.


In a survey conducted by the International Game Developers Association to support independent game developers in 2014, about half of the 2,200 people who participated in the survey supported the need for labor unions in the industry. A similar survey was conducted in 2009, but it seems that the approval rating at that time was 35%.

GDC, the world's largest game developer conference held annually, conducts a questionnaire survey for developers before the event, and in 2019 "Is a labor union necessary for game developers?" It seems that question items were set up. This is the first time GDC has asked developers about the necessity of labor unions.

According to this survey, 47% of about 4000 developers agree to form a labor union and 26% show that it is a positive position to form a labor union "probably should unite" It is. On the other hand, only 16% showed a position opposed to the formation of labor union, and the remaining 11% answered "I do not know".

But asking about whether the game industry can actually form unions means that the proportion of those who believe that labor unions will be formed will be reduced to only 21% and that 24% will not be formed answer. 39% answered "Labor union probably will be formed" and 15% answered "I do not know".



In the questionnaire there is a free reply column, but some companies say "Companies only suppress labor unions like Wal-Mart. Close the game studio and create a new studio a mile away. There is also a statement that there is a description saying that labor unions can not improve their working environment and that many developers are giving up.

Another developer said "Popular studios and publishers have not moved to change the hard work environment of game developers.Some officers will ship before the game is ready and dismiss employees In exchange for doing it, I can earn a bonus of 20 million dollars (about 2.2 billion yen), I guess the game industry is in the timing to revisit myself.The employees are united in the present environment We welcome that. "

There is no reason not to disturb the idea that "labor unions can improve the inferior working conditions of game developers". At the GDC in 2018, a discussion "Union Now?" Was held and hosted by Mr. Gen McLean, secretary general of the International Game Developers Association . Among them, Mr. McLean said, "If you assemble a labor union it is assumed that everything will be great, but I do not think this is reasonable," said the formation of labor unions It does not lead to problem solving. Also, when overseas media Kotaku asked, "May we be able to increase the leverage of people working in the game industry even a little?" McLean said, "I do not know if there is an answer to that Answers, it can be seen that industry stakeholders are in a negative position to form labor unions.

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in Game, Posted by logu_ii