Labor Organizing in the Gaming Industry

“In a genuinely humane civilization, the [principle of] human existence will be play rather than toil… [T]he play impulse would literally transform reality.” —Herbert Marcuse, 1953
Games and play are an essential part of modern culture, from the latest videogames on phones and computers to friendly boardgames around the kitchen table, they're one of the largest and most mass market forms of art. But few think about the work that goes into making them or the people who do it. Making games for a living can be a dream job for a generation raised on consoles and home computers. But the working conditions of that dream have always been fraught, and in recent years have appreciably worsened across the industry. Studio closures and layoffs are increasingly common, but there's also been a new wave of organizing efforts and successful unionization drives.

In light of these developments, the Independent Labor Club has invited a panel of games industry professionals involved in labor organizing to discuss the following questions:

1. What are your labor conditions like? What challenges do you face?
2. How is the quality of the work you make? How could it be improved?
3. In a society organized on other principles, what sort of games might you look to design? How might they look different than games do today?

The panel will last from 6:30-8:00pm, followed by a town hall.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Independent Labor Club of NYC