Challenges and opportunities for collective action and unionization in local games industries
By: Keogh, Brendan and Abraham, Benjamin
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Material type: 
BookPublisher: Organization Description: 31(1), Jan, 2024: p.27-48.Subject(s): Game Industry Unionization, Game Workers Unite Videogame Developers Difficult Working Conditions Precarious Conditions Small Informal Teams Fragmented Gamework Worker Power Creative Work Precarious Work Entrepreneurial Careers Project-Based Funding Australian Game Developers Barriers to Unionization Small-Scale Game Production Novel Solidarity Collective Action
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OrganizationSummary: The games industry has seen a burst of new interest in the prospect of unionization. The efforts of organizations like Game Workers Unite have attracted much favorable coverage in the enthusiast and trade industry press, increasing awareness amongst videogame audiences of the difficult working conditions facing professional game developers. However, often missing from these discussions is an articulation of what unionization would look like for the significant number of game developers working in precarious conditions in small, often informal teams. The fragmented nature of contemporary gamework presents challenges in aggregating worker power similar to those found in other fields of creative or precarious work and entrepreneurial careers, where contingent work is typically organized around piecemeal, project–based funding arrangements. In this paper we draw from empirical research with Australian game developers to identify a number of barriers to unionization posed by small-scale game production. We also identify how within these same circumstances, novel and alternative forms of solidarity and collective action are beginning to emerge. The article ultimately argues that any successful attempt to unionize videogame workers will need to both account for, and take advantage of, the complex situation of small-scale videogame production in local contexts. – Reproduced
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13505084221082269
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Articles
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Indian Institute of Public Administration | 31(1), Jan, 2024: p.27-48 | Available | AR131394 |
The games industry has seen a burst of new interest in the prospect of unionization. The efforts of organizations like Game Workers Unite have attracted much favorable coverage in the enthusiast and trade industry press, increasing awareness amongst videogame audiences of the difficult working conditions facing professional game developers. However, often missing from these discussions is an articulation of what unionization would look like for the significant number of game developers working in precarious conditions in small, often informal teams. The fragmented nature of contemporary gamework presents challenges in aggregating worker power similar to those found in other fields of creative or precarious work and entrepreneurial careers, where contingent work is typically organized around piecemeal, project–based funding arrangements. In this paper we draw from empirical research with Australian game developers to identify a number of barriers to unionization posed by small-scale game production. We also identify how within these same circumstances, novel and alternative forms of solidarity and collective action are beginning to emerge. The article ultimately argues that any successful attempt to unionize videogame workers will need to both account for, and take advantage of, the complex situation of small-scale videogame production in local contexts. – Reproduced
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13505084221082269
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