This is the group using GDC to bolster game studio unionization efforts

At this year’s Game Developers Conference, it’s not games that are dominating conversation, it’s the industry. This isn’t atypical for the annual gathering. But this year, in light of increasing mobilization in the media to combat harassment, poor wages and workplace abuse, many game developers are speaking out, declaring that it’s time for their industry to do the same.

According to Game Workers Unite, the fast-growing grassroots campaign that’s in many ways directing that conversation at this year’s GDC, the best weapon may be unionization.

“[Young developers] have so much passion and energy. I’m one of those people, and I’m totally fueled by that passion,” Emma, a Los Angeles-based indie developer (who asked her full name not be used) and one of Game Workers Unite’s most active organizers, told Polygon. “I’m here to make games.

“But the thing is, that passion is the perfect medium for employers to exploit us. We’ll do anything to work in games and make games, and they know we’re desperate. [But you] can be passionate about games and also be fairly represented.”

That’s what Game Workers Unite is hoping to offer to everyone in game development, especially those who have felt disempowered by long hours and brutal crunch periods. The organization, according to its website, is focused on sharing organizational knowledge and launching community efforts to spread the word of its cause, with the first wave of that action — including public congress and handing out flyers — happening this week at GDC.

Emma and games writer and critic Liz Ryerson are chiefly responsible for expanding the conversation beyond a private Facebook group for developers. Earlier this month, they moved their mutual frustrations with years of worker exploitation to a Discord server, which grew to have more than 100 members. That led to a website where more than 200 people are pledging their support to what is now an actual campaign with goals and a mission: get the industry unionized. That member base includes academics, coders, artists and independent designers, among others. Game Workers Unite has already attracted a diverse group based around the world, according to its organizers.

“It’s been so taboo for so long, but now people are ready to stick their necks out a little bit for this,” Emma told Polygon of the recently invigorated interest in unionization at GDC and throughout the industry.

While exploitative practices like crunch and high burn out rates have long been denounced by developers (and consumers), GDC 2018 marks a significant turning point for the industry undercurrent of pro-union sentiment. For one, the conference comes on the heels of various media companies’ public unionization efforts (disclosure: the editorial staff at Polygon’s own Vox Media are currently organizing); it’s also the first GDC since Hollywood kickstarted an open dialogue about years of unchecked, rampant harassment in several industries, leading to the #MeToo movement.

These recent events galvanized frustrated games workers, and spurred this action at GDC. Tensions were further aggravated before today’s scheduled roundtable hosted by Jen MacLean, executive director of the International Game Developers Association, after MacLean made several comments in USGamer that some viewed as anti-union.

“For example if you are a relatively small studio that has laid off a team, odds are you laid them off because you can’t afford them anymore,” MacLean said in an interview with USGamer ahead of the roundtable. “A union’s not going to change that; access to capital is going to change that.”

Despite MacLean’s trepidation about developers’ desire to organize, Emma said that Game Workers Unite is not opposed to the IGDA.

“Jen is wonderful and she does good work, and we really think that if we come in there earnestly and honestly wanting to do something good for everyone, that they might be able to work with us,” she said. “But this is crafted and run by the IGDA, and the people organizing it tend to be employers and not workers.”

While Game Workers Unite hopes to eventually collaborate with the IGDA and the studios whose staff a union would represent, the campaign is talking first with established media unions, like the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America. But unlike Hollywood, the games industry lacks a focal point around which all workers can really cohere; Emma is conscious that the ambiguity of certain roles in game development, and the sheer number of them, could cast doubt on the plausibility of a single, unified unionization effort.

“Some people are very rightfully skeptical of what’s going on here,” said Emma. “‘Is it just going to be a little bit of idealism and some direct action and then fizzle out?’”

Instead of setting their initial sights on the global industry, Game Workers Unite is starting on the ground floor with smaller communities, she explained.

“Unionization will have to happen on a local level, which is why I’m really proud of how international our members are,” she said. “Are you an exploited worker in Montreal? Do you need someone to meet up with in person? Do you need a little solidarity there? We have people for you.”

From there, Game Workers Unite hopes to build strong relationships with solidified unions, garnering their support and learning from their own structure and development.

“We’re looking at ways to become a proper entity so we can interface with governments,” Emma said about Game Workers Unite’s next steps. “We want to do this for the long haul. We’re not just a flash in the pan at GDC.”

The particulars of what a game developers’ union would look like are murky for now; it’s not clear how self-employed developers would differ from those on the lowest tier of a big studio, for example. And the lines get blurry when it comes to developers who head up small but successful indie studios. The campaign has a global focus, too, which means recognizing diverse legalities that govern unionization across the world. It’s also tough if workers at bigger studios feel unable to go public with their support, fearing unsupportive employers. That’s not even broaching the difficulties in getting an abundance of studios with widely different employee bases and financial situations to agree to a prescriptive set of needs.

But those barriers are hundreds of steps ahead in the process, said Emma. For now, it’s about encouraging folks to get involved — anonymously or outspokenly — including during MacLean’s sure-to-be-contentious roundtable, which will be held this afternoon. Game Workers Unite plans to have several active participants during the open discussion.

“If you work in games, chances are you’re being exploited right now,” said Emma. “Everyone needs the support.”