Kane99 Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 There has been news of some game developers and studios wanting to enact a gaming union so that developers and studios are better protected from the abuse they've been receiving over the years, from forced crunch, to unreasonable due dates and so on. And of course other more harmful abuses like sexual assault and other such offenses. I think it's a great move to implement a union for people who work in the gaming industry, especially those don't have much power in the industry. Do you see more studios unionizing going forward? Do you think we'll see just one big union? Or will we see a few pop up here and there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reality vs Adventure Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 Looks like the gaming industry is just beginning to get involved with unions. That is a good thing. Unions can invite talent as employees want protections and a voice. Who doesn't want that? Crazies don't; they love abuse. Just like anywhere, some companies will unionize and others won't. We for sure will start to see battles take place as the big umbrella corps like Microsoft oversees many smaller companies who have their own unions forming. Unions are a natural threat to corporations; vice versa. Kind of like, where is your diamond from? Is it a blood diamond or mined with unionization? What kind of blood was put into the games you play? Wouldn't it be sweeter if the people were happy and free the whole time developing your games? Without unions, well...we have already seen the ugly side. Why not try something new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killamch89 Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 For sure it will but I'm not sure how much of an impact it'll have in the short-term. Until unionization is widespread and mandatory in the gaming industry, its impact will be very limited and could make those employees even bigger targets of discrimination/abuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Empire Posted January 12, 2023 Share Posted January 12, 2023 For the most part, other software companies will pay better for the same job. The fact that you make games is a perk that means they can pay you less. Co-worker of mine doing government web dev said he'd never go back to game dev. Hours are awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syntax Posted January 13, 2023 Share Posted January 13, 2023 I think it really just depends on the funding that the studio gets, not so much on finding workers. The biggest issue is really due to timelines, sometimes they are super tight (Cyberpunk) and you end up with a half-finished game or a game that legit doesn't work without huge patches (which should have been what it was on release). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shortie Posted January 14, 2023 Share Posted January 14, 2023 I feel unionization will help gaming a lot to be honest. I can only imagine how much abuse game developers go through over games as I have only ever seen what they have allowed to be released to the public in terms of situations regarding the gaming industry and abuse. I know with Cyberpunk, that could have been such a smoother release and a lot better for them if they waited a little longer but they were pressured and that was wrong. More does need to be done to protect them and prevent incidents like that happening. It's not fair on the developers when they give in to demand and then get abuse because the release wasn't finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kane99 Posted January 15, 2023 Author Share Posted January 15, 2023 On 1/13/2023 at 2:33 PM, Syntax said: I think it really just depends on the funding that the studio gets, not so much on finding workers. The biggest issue is really due to timelines, sometimes they are super tight (Cyberpunk) and you end up with a half-finished game or a game that legit doesn't work without huge patches (which should have been what it was on release). The thing with unions though is that they aren't a part of the company you're working for. It's like a group of people who will fight for your job if you're wrongly fired, or are dealing with a poor work environment. Much like crunch in gaming. The studio itself wouldn't be in the union, the employees would be. The unions defend the workers from wrongful termination or bad bosses etc. Which is why I think unions are needed more than ever, because companies need to be held accountable for how they're treating their employees. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killamch89 Posted January 16, 2023 Share Posted January 16, 2023 On 1/15/2023 at 2:56 PM, Kane99 said: The thing with unions though is that they aren't a part of the company you're working for. It's like a group of people who will fight for your job if you're wrongly fired, or are dealing with a poor work environment. Much like crunch in gaming. The studio itself wouldn't be in the union, the employees would be. The unions defend the workers from wrongful termination or bad bosses etc. Which is why I think unions are needed more than ever, because companies need to be held accountable for how they're treating their employees. I agree but it'll take a while before the effects of unionization will have any sort of impact and it has to be something widespread and mandatory. Not an optional thing for certain companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
