Q.
Unionisation has recently become a hot topic. How has that come about and do you foresee increased levels of unionisation across the industry – in QA especially – as inevitable?
Steph McStea (Double Eleven): Simply put, a lot of QA teams have had enough concerns not being heard or taken seriously internally. These unions are the result of QA teams taking things into their own hands, as often talks with their studios have led to very little to no change. We’ve all read the awful stories that have come out about the way that QA are treated at various studios. This is still very much an on-going issue, so it was inevitable that teams were going to start unionising as a last resort to try and have their voices heard. If the games industry continues to treat QA the way it does, there’ll no doubt be more news of further unions in future. I deeply hope that more studios will take note of this and ensure that they listen to the voices of their teams before things have to be taken further.
Tarek Nijmeh (PTW): Unions have always been a topic of discussion, but collective bargaining is gaining traction in all consumer industries. However, no one organisation has stepped up to provide a clear path forward for unionisation for the entire video games industry.
Adam Rush (Keywords Studios): It’s hard to see where unionisation in the games industry is going at this early stage, but for now the best thing to do is value your people, strive to be a good employer and have an ongoing dialogue throughout.
Neil Soane (Quantic Lab): As a company we are pro-people and invest heavily in the hearts and minds of our staff. Our company, like many others, operates in multiple countries and each has different employment laws that offer varying degrees of protection to their staff. In some territories we find that unions are not necessary as local laws offer excellent protection to staff, but in others if unions are needed to protect staff rights, then we would support that. It can be a more complex question than many might initially realise, a scenario of ‘one out, all out’ is something I think may struggle in the environment in which development and publishing resides. The unions supporting QA staff are still learning how they would fit into the modern games industry, so it may be a little early to know for sure how the situation will pan out.
Povilas Svetova (Nordcurrent): It is difficult to predict the future in this situation. Unionisation may become inevitable because workers keep seeking better working conditions. It will depend on such factors as the IT industry‘s response to worker needs/ demands forming trade unions in the regulated countries.
“It may be a little early to know for sure how the situation will pan out.”
Neil Soane, UK MD for Quantic Lab February 2023 MCV/DEVELOP | 43
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