Union members of United Videogame Workers marched through the Game Developers Conference on Wednesday, unveiling a formal push for standardised workplace protections across an industry long notorious for demanding unsustainable labour practices.
The union shared a first draft of their 'Bill of Rights,' a set of universal protections that it plans to help unions bargain for and even use as a template for new unions or freelancers to advocate for themselves. It is a significant gesture in an industry that has historically resisted collective bargaining. The UVW-CWA is envisioning a base standard set of working conditions for all game developers, rather than forcing each studio to negotiate independently.
Suggested protections in the bill of rights handed out include protections from AI use being required by companies or used as replacement for workers, anti-crunch policies, and protections for remote workers. It also suggests protections for workers in the US who are immigrants and could be targeted by ICE agents.
The timing reflects genuine urgency. Across the industry, over 10,500 jobs were lost in 2023 and an additional 14,600 jobs were lost in 2024, with more than 10% of surveyed game developers reporting being laid off in 2024. Over 30 studios have laid off their entire staff and were closed by their parent companies, including some of the largest and most profitable corporations like Microsoft and Sony Interactive Entertainment. This backdrop explains why the union is also gathering signatures for a petition demanding dignity and job security for all video game workers, particularly those facing layoffs.
The crunch issue is particularly acute. Crunch can lead to work weeks of 65–80 hours for extended periods of time, often uncompensated beyond the normal working hours. A lack of unionisation on the part of game developers has often been suggested as the reason crunch exists, with organisations such as Game Workers Unite aiming to fight against crunch by forcing studios to honour game developers' labour rights.
The movement builds momentum from earlier victories. In 2022, Raven Software's quality assurance team won their union vote after a months-long organising effort, and when Activision Blizzard was acquired by Microsoft the following year, Microsoft accepted a labour neutrality agreement with the CWA that affirmed workers' rights to organise without interference.
Yet scepticism about corporate intentions lingers. UVW members hosted a game worker union campaigns panel along with members of the ZeniMax QA union and World of Warcraft team union, covering topics like how to organise within a studio and future plans of the UVW. What remains unclear is whether the industry's largest studios will voluntarily adopt these protections or whether workers will need to fight for them studio by studio. The marchers at the conference suggest they are prepared for the latter scenario.