European game unions combine forces to protest against AI, toxic workplaces and layoffs

Six of Western Europe’s video games unions have formed a united front to condemn AI, toxic workplaces and the waves of layoffs workers in the industry have seen.

Last month, France’s STJV, the UK’s IWGB Game Workers, Spain’s CSVI, Italy’s FION-CGIL, Germany’s Ver.di, and Game Workers Unite Ireland came together to discuss issues being faced by their members, and collaborate on long and short-term objectives.

“Game workers everywhere have many problems in common,” the group said in a collective statement provided in multiple languages. “Our jobs are under threat, we are denied a voice in our workplaces, and policies such as ‘return to office’ and tools like generative AI are being forced upon us, even though they degrade our working conditions.

“We demand equity for all and stable careers; free from layoffs, free from the imposition of automated content creation, and free from authoritarian mismanagement. Multinational companies already operate globally. Game workers already collaborate transnationally. It follows, then, that unions must also organise across borders.”

“One thing [has become] absolutely clear: that together, workers can transform their jobs, their careers, and their lives for the better.”

The group also organised a protest at the Paris offices of Rockstar parent company Take-Two after 31 members of the IWGB Game Workers were dismissed; the UK union claims that these staff were fired for their union activity, though Take-Two has denied this claim, instead saying they were let go for sharing confidential information.

A People Make Games investigation into the matter suggested that the staff affected were fired for discussing changes to Rockstar’s Slack policies in an external but closed Discord server.

“This is a historic milestone for the video game industry,” IWGB Game Workers PR officer Scott Alsworth said.

“For the first time, we are seeing game workers organising across borders, coordinating campaigns, and standing together in solidarity. For years, there has been a collective sense of isolation, a climate of fear — many have felt powerless and divided in the face of seemingly unstoppable conglomerates. But now, we’re marshalling politics in the workplace and learning over again, in adversity, the struggles of the past. That there is indeed strength in unity.”

IWGB Game Workers chair Spring McparlinJones added: “Game workers everywhere are up against it. All across Europe, we are seeing the same problems. The same methods of exploitation. It follows, then, that an international crisis requires an international response. The Game Workers Branch of the IWGB union is very proud to be a part of a ‘united front’ and we will continue to fight for game workers rights, both in the UK and beyond.”

Earlier this year, we spoke to the IWGB Game Workers to discuss why there has been more of a conversation about unionisation, why the industry needs unions and what the state of the industry is.