Game dev workers in the USA deserve more than crunches and meager salaries. The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Unions (AFL—CIO) recall this in an open letter published by Kotaku.
Problem
The trade union is seriously concerned about the current culture of crunches and infringement of the rights of developers. In a country where the annual turnover of video games has reached $43 billion (which is 3.6 times more than the record box office of the film industry in the United States in 2018), the creators of virtual worlds are working in “outrageous conditions,” the letter says. This applies to overwork, salaries, and the attitude of top managers to their staff.
After sleepless nights, piles of crumpled cans of Red Bull and endless pressure from the management, you have done the impossible. You have created new worlds, new challenges, a new era of entertainment. Now is the time for key industry figures to start treating you with the respect you deserve.
AFL—CIO Secretary
Developers were reminded of the blatant crunch in Rockstar Games. The employees of this studio have been processing for months and even years. “And after that, they released a game that brought their bosses $725 million in the first three days,” the appeal says. We are obviously talking about Red Dead Redemption 2.
Decision
The authors of the letter called on game dev workers in the United States to unite and demand decent working conditions. As an example, they cited the United Kingdom, where the world’s first developers’ union, Game Workers Unite, was created in December.
Now is the time for change. They will not be started by managers. And not corporate advice. And not just one person. Change will begin when you gain leverage by uniting in a strong union.
AFL—CIO Secretary
The AFL—CIO includes 57 American unions representing the interests of 12.5 million workers. This makes the trade union the largest in the country.
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