Game workers union unveil manifesto to transform sector after unprecedented mass layoffs

• The IWGB Game Workers Union, which now represents over 1,500 workers in the UK, has published its first manifesto, setting out ambitions to end unpaid overtime, improve job security and raise baseline pay
• The call for change comes after at least 900 UK game workers lost their jobs last year in mass layoffs which saw union membership skyrocket
  

Thursday 31 October: Video game developers represented by the IWGB (Independent Workers Union of Great Britain) have today published their first manifesto, declaring their plans to transform the games sector by tackling job insecurity, unpaid overtime, and inadequate pay. The publication comes amid an unprecedented wave of mass redundancies in the industry, which saw over 10,000 workers worldwide lose their jobs in 2023. The number of redundancies so far this year is estimated to have already exceeded 13,000.

These widespread layoffs, which affected over 900 UK game workers in 2023, has shone a light on the precarity facing so many in the industry, and made job security one of the union’s central focuses. Another core objective laid out in the manifesto is for studios to end their reliance on overtime. Known in the industry as ‘crunch’, many game workers are made to do long hours of unpaid overtime either side of a game launch - a practice with serious consequences for workers’ mental and physical health, which the union proposes to stamp out.

The manifesto also calls for a more equitable distribution of studio profits through worker ownership models, policies to end the gender pay gap, and baseline salaries closer to those in other countries with an equal cost of living.

By publicly setting out their vision to reform the games industry, the union hopes to build on its recent momentum, which has seen membership grow by nearly 50% in a single year, and recently brought the total number of workers it represents to over 1,500.

Austin Kelmore, Chair of the Game Workers Branch, said: “The games industry has reached a tipping point. After another year battling this relentless onslaught of layoffs, workers are realising that things urgently need to change, and are unionising on a scale never seen before. The people who choose to work in the games sector are some of the most passionate, creative, dedicated people you’ll ever meet, and studio bosses rely on that passion to exploit us without fair pay, conditions or job security. Together, we can make sure the games industry’s future looks very different. Stable work, fair pay, a balanced work schedule - all these are well within reach if we stand together to demand them in unison.”

Charlie Webb, BAME Officer of the IWGB Game Workers Branch, said: “The past year’s unprecedented wave of layoffs has revealed the underlying instability of the game industry. It’s had a personal impact on me - this year I endured the fourth round of redundancies in my career as a game developer. It wears you down. As soon as you think you’ve found solid footing the rug is pulled from beneath your feet once again. The endless waves of acquisition, consolidation, and trend-chasing by management has led directly to our current state of precarity as workers. Our manifesto shows a sustainable, sane, and healthy path forward.”

ENDS

Spokespeople available for interview on request.

For more information please contact Ellie Butcher on 07883 887613 or elliebutcher@iwgb.co.uk or email press@iwgb.co.uk