At an industry conference for video game developers in late March, the thousands of lanyarded attendees could try new games, swap business cards and hear from experts on rendering realistic blood spatter. Or they could talk about unionizing.
But video game companies, with their close ties to the heavily unionized entertainment industry and a workplace culture notorious for grueling hours and rolling layoffs, appear poised to become the first corner of the tech industry to organize.
That same mainstreaming of games, with steadily increasing revenues to match, has prompted some workers to look to the steadier livelihoods of their peers in Hollywood production and think: Why can’t we have that? With more than 220,000 workers in the U.S. and relatively high pay and profits compared with industries such as food service, hospitality or transportation, gaming could become the largest private sector to unionize in recent years, potentially helping reverse a long decline in union membership.
Typical arguments against unions in creative sectors tend to hinge on concerns about innovation, flexibility, individual compensation and effects on the bottom line. In the tech industry, skepticism is further fueled by fears that organized labor might slow down a company’s ability to adapt to a changing market.Companies’ likely opposition stacks the odds against unionization, said Sam Roberts, assistant director of USC’s Interactive Media & Games Division.
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