United Videogame Workers Union Launches Amid Industry-wide Layoffs and AI Threat

[Cpt.Jank]

The United Videogame Workers Union (UVW) has officially been announced, operating in collaboration with the Communications Workers of America union to bring about change in the game development industry in the US and Canada. UVW union says it exists to protect workers against the recent wave of lay-offs happening despite the same companies doing the lay-offs raking in record profits. The UVW's message is summed up as "Enough is enough, it's time for employers to put people over profits," and its list of demands include plans for sustainable growth, an end to "boom and bust hiring cycles," paid time off after lay-offs and advanced notice of lay-offs, and protections against generative AI, which many believe has become an increasingly real threat to the livelihoods of creative professionals, especially in the video game industry.

The creation of the UVW union comes hot on the heels of a recently leaked Sony tech demo that showed off Aloy from Horizon: Zero Dawn and Forbidden West completely controlled by an AI. While Sony says the AI-powered tech demo was not meant for public consumption, and clarified in a statement to Ashley Burch, the voice actor behind the character, that it wasn't something that was being developed for commercial use, the clip still sparked controversy, with many gamers vehemently rejecting the idea of replacing voice actors with AI. The recent trend in video game lay-offs has also proven to be an ongoing problem plaguing the gaming industry. According to one independent tracker, 2024 saw at least 182 companies lay off a total of over 14,000 employees, with 2025 continuing the trend with over 600 employees losing their jobs in the first quarter alone. The protections sought by the UVW union would seemingly disincentivize companies from laying off staff unless entirely necessary, and the union also seeks to make it so that formerly laid-off staff are given preference when a new round of hiring takes place.

"We are going to create a game industry that works for us, one that nourishes its talent and invests in its future, rather than constantly seeking short-term profits. We are the ones that make the games, so we must be the ones that set the terms of how we work."

A full list of the UVW union's demands:

• Sustainable growth instead of short term boom and bust hiring cycles.
• Advanced notice before layoffs.
• Paid time off following layoffs.
• Improved severance pay.
• Extended health insurance coverage for laid off workers.
• Recall rights - those who are let go get priority when the company starts hiring again.
• Worker control over decisions to use generative AI

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[AnarchoPrimitiv]

Good for them, these workers are particularly exploited and it's time they defend themselves and their rights.

 

[Mapps_TCM45]

i see UVW-CWA and i suddenly get "Liana Ruppert" vibes

 

[Chet_Manly]

Good Demands:
Longer term hiring
Better notification of layoffs
Better benefits

Silly demands:
Paid Time Off for when someone else loses their job! Really??? Lets increase the layoffs to afford the PTO usage!
Recall Rights... if they are good the company will want to rehire, if they are not it hurts the company and fellow workers to have them back.
Worker control over AI... the Union will prohibit all usage. Will never be accepted and should not be.

 

[Rungar]

unfortunately it wont end that way. Theyll just outsource to places that dont have that or people that are not unionized. Unfortunate but true. The days of unions are at an end really.

 

[AGlezB]

I honestly don't know how unionizing is going to work for a job that's 100% digital and can be easily outsourced. A couple of points look to me more of a wish item than something they can actually achieve:

• Sustainable growth instead of short term boom and bust hiring cycles.

The studios that want sustainable growth have been working towards it the whole time. The rest doesn't care and aren't going to change. Reason: capitalism.

• Worker control over decisions to use generative AI

Not going to happen. Reason: cost.

 

[Why_Me]

Fire them all. Just like they told people in my industry, they can always learn to code.

 

[bitsandboots]

unfortunately it wont end that way. Theyll just outsource to places that dont have that or people that are not unionized. Unfortunate but true. The days of unions are at an end really.

Unions seem to work fine in countries where they are the majority. I guess somewhere between not enough union and too easy of a job to outsource makes the subject challenging?

Anyway, it's pretty rare that I want to play a game that is the work of hundreds of people or more. I don't know how these big gaming companies do what they do - seems like as soon as they try to turn a creative effort into a source of steady revenue the games become rather bland. If things don't go well for the workers, I hope they find success in indy games because that's where my money tends to go.

 

[blinnbanir]

It is too bad in Public Companies that the workers are the first ones forgotten. With the Hubris, especially of Nvidia. This will be fought tooth and nail in the courts. It is interesting though that most GPUs are made in China or Taiwan. EVGA is dead and Biostar is not even As Rock.

Fire them all. Just like they told people in my industry, they can always learn to code.

AI is for real no need to code

 

[Mapps_TCM45]

Unions seem to work fine in countries where they are the majority. I guess somewhere between not enough union and too easy of a job to outsource makes the subject challenging?

Anyway, it's pretty rare that I want to play a game that is the work of hundreds of people or more. I don't know how these big gaming companies do what they do - seems like as soon as they try to turn a creative effort into a source of steady revenue the games become rather bland. If things don't go well for the workers, I hope they find success in indy games because that's where my money tends to go.

UVW-CWA website FAQ explicitly includes indie jobs too.

 

[GhostRyder]

Yea this is a bad idea and another bad union that will cause issues in the industry and probably sink it in many areas. Alot of the problems with unionizing is it normally raises costs significantly higher on the industry and currently we are seeing a game recession going on where costs have exploded creating big games which is causing less companies willing to invest in it. Doing this is just going to push outsourcing to be most of where the work is done similar to how animation is now. You are going to see games go up in price and less people being hired in Canada and North America if they actually make serious ground.

 

[Why_Me]

AI is for real no need to code

Karma can be a b1tch.

less people being hired in Canada and North America if they actually make serious ground.

We can probably include Canada as part of North America this one time.

 

[Freedom4556]

The answer probably isn't unions, but restructuring game companies to avoid perverse incentives by shareholders. We need more employee-owned privately held studios. The problem is always financing. Crowd funding was a solution for a time, but the reality is we need conventional financing to work for companies that aren't public. The industry can't function if each individual company is expected to have the hits cover the flops. Nobody tries anything experimental that way, and we end up with bland "appeal to a wider audience" mess that ends up with Mixed reviews on Steam and the studio getting laid off and closed.

 

[Steevo]

How about no. Fire them all, video games are buggy these days and good video games just like other media will still be profitable. People will pay what they feel a product is worth.

Maybe it will give them the motivation to start their own video game company VS using a form of government to control the company they work for.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Nothing wrong with forming a union, one of the few ways labor has to fight capital on an even remotely even footing.

Same fundamental concept as birds murmuring or fish schooling, lots of little stuff working together to look like they're more effort than it's worth to try and eat.

Ofc unions are never the one stop shop solution to every problem, and they can get rotten like anything else.

Still, a shame to see so much crab bucket mentality in this thread.

 

[R-T-B]

Reason: capitalism.

Cure: Unions

As a former gane dev myself, this is exactly whats needed. Without it, more are going to follow my path, and just switch industries entirely.

How about no. Fire them all, video games are buggy these days and good video games just like other media will still be profitable. People will pay what they feel a product is worth.

Maybe it will give them the motivation to start their own video game company VS using a form of government to control the company they work for.

I have a bridge in rapture to sell you bro...

AI is for real no need to code

Karma can be a b1tch.

Yes, this is why the most popular web search for visual studio was for quite some time "how to get rid of copilot." Because it was totally helping.

Fire them all, video games are buggy these days

Yeah, couldn't be a lack of understanding that money doesn't make game development happen overnight from bigwig execs. Like, no way. I'm sure they are totally connected to their lowend programers.

 

[AGlezB]

Cure: Unions

As a former gane dev myself, this is exactly whats needed. Without it, more are going to follow my path, and just switch industries entirely.

A union needs to be able to say to a business "we'll f*ck you up if you don't do as we say". Without leverage a union is just a social club where people go to complain about their lives. The only way a union can work in the current climate is to grow big enough to force a legislation that says "to publish a game in our country you need to have at least X percent done by our workers and you have to pay them well" and that is unlikely to happen because Asia has a million devs just as qualified that'll say "sure, whatever they ask for, we'll do it for less" so the moment the union starts to grow they'll all be out of a job.

 

[R-T-B]

Without leverage

Members unwilling to work for less IS leverage dude. That's how unions work.

You don't seem to understand how dire things are. We programers are skilled profesionals. We do not have to make games. We can find work elsewhere (and indeed many have). If you want a million games built in a sweatshop in far east asia, shoot, have fun. We're done with it. And I'm thinking I have a slight hunch that won't net you what you want, Mr ceo (sales? quality? lol not at that price) In the interim, we are allowed to form a union, sorry.

 

[AnarchoPrimitiv]

unfortunately it wont end that way. Theyll just outsource to places that dont have that or people that are not unionized. Unfortunate but true. The days of unions are at an end really.

First of all, that not true in a majority of situations, and regardless, even if it is true, what are you saying? That workers should just accept whatever exploitation they have to so the owners don't retaliate?

Let me just lay it out like this....there's a REASON why workers in Western Europe, Central Europe, and Scandinavia jave way, way, way, way, way more rights, protections, and generally higher pay than American/North American workers and it is DIRECTLY a result of their militant labor action.

 

[AGlezB]

Members unwilling to work for less IS leverage dude. That's how unions work.

Unlike construction, game dev is not a job that has to be done locally. If you don't want to work for less I'll hire Rakesh and he will work 80+ hour weeks for a tenth of the wages because if he doesn't he is fired and I'll take my pick from Chandra, Kamal, Suraj, Dinesh, Kumar, Arun or any other of the 50 million more waiting in line to take over Rakesh's job for the same or even less money. If you don't believe me just find any of your water or electricity bills and dial the support number printed in the bill and see if you get an american on the first try. Chances are you'll get a "Hello, this is Rakesh. How can I help you today?" and have to hop thru 3 or 4 people before you get to someone who's actually in the US.

 

[Shihab]

Unlike construction, game dev is not a job that has to be done locally. If you don't want to work for less I'll hire Rakesh and he will work 80+ hour weeks for a tenth of the wages because if he doesn't he is fired and I'll take my pick from Chandra, Kamal, Suraj, Dinesh, Kumar, Arun or any other of the 50 million more waiting in line to take over Rakesh's job for the same or even less money. If you don't believe me just find any of your water or electricity bills and dial the support number printed in the bill and see if you get an american on the first try. Chances are you'll get a "Hello, this is Rakesh. How can I help you today?" and have to hop thru 3 or 4 people before you get to someone who's actually in the US.

But also unlike construction, gamedev (at least, outside the smartphone ecosystem) has a relatively high quality/skill requirements. Rakesh would likely be a very critical contributer to your project, and finding an equally skilled replacement would cost you more (considering limited supply and cost of training/familiarization with internal tooling/system).

For those roles that are easy to replace (support staff, non-celebrity actors, etc), unions protect them by having the critical ones in the union as well act as leverage. Firing the QA guy would be much less appealing if your rockstar devs threatened to go on a strike...

I'm not personally that much pro-unions myself, but I'm intrigued to see how well this one fares. Especially regarding the AI part (in the real world, not the imagination of whomever made that laughable demand).

 

[R-T-B]

Unlike construction, game dev is not a job that has to be done locally. If you don't want to work for less I'll hire Rakesh and he will work 80+ hour weeks for a tenth of the wages because if he doesn't he is fired and I'll take my pick from Chandra, Kamal, Suraj, Dinesh, Kumar, Arun or any other of the 50 million more waiting in line to take over Rakesh's job for the same or even less money. If you don't believe me just find any of your water or electricity bills and dial the support number printed in the bill and see if you get an american on the first try. Chances are you'll get a "Hello, this is Rakesh. How can I help you today?" and have to hop thru 3 or 4 people before you get to someone who's actually in the US.

Yeah game making isn't just coding, its artists and modelers and a large swath of skills. And I'm certain when you want to make a western style video game you totally do not need cultural knowledge of their target markets.

If you don't, I'm sure you'll do fine. And so well we. But something to remember: once we leave, we seldom come back. Are you certain Rakesh has all you need?

That this is skilled labor, not phone support shouldn't even need to be said, but here we are.

Especially regarding the AI part

It's the least tennable part of the list I see, yeah. But probably also the least relevant.

 

[AGlezB]

But also unlike construction, gamedev (at least, outside the smartphone ecosystem) has a relatively high quality/skill requirements.

That is a common missconception. While there are jobs in construction that require little to no experience that is not generally the case, at least in countries with decent working conditions, because I've been to places where the idea of protection equipment is wearing two shirts and in those places everything goes.

Rakesh would likely be a very critical contributer to your project, and finding an equally skilled replacement would cost you more (considering limited supply and cost of training/familiarization with internal tooling/system).

There is no such thing as "critical people" in software/game development. Everyone is replaceable. The only difference is how easy/cheap to replace they are.

EDIT:
Just in case let me explain. There was a time when companies had gurus, usually but not always men, who were actually critical. You simply could not fire them because nobody else in the company and maybe a handful in the world could do what they did. Some of them were reasonable but most of them were MFing divas even the CEOs had to treat with care. What put an end to that was the internet, because every little single thing you can learn is now available and usually for free. You can get a Harvard-level education for free if you have the time and the inclination to do so. And since everyone can know, no one is critical and in a well run company you will have multiple people with overlaping roles so the only way the can be considered critical is if you fire them all at the same time. Otherwise they can cover the gaps until a new hire is brought in.

 

[R-T-B]

There is no such thing as "critical people" in software/game development. Everyone is replaceable. The only difference is how easy/cheap to replace they are.

Yeah lol. Good luck with that. And you wonder why you've not got any good games from AAA lately. Creativity is not something replaced at a dime a dozen.

 

[AGlezB]

Yeah game making isn't just coding, its artists and modelers and a large swath of skills.

Every country has talent. Why would I pay 10 times more to get that talent in the US?

And I'm certain when you want to make a western style video game you totally do not need cultural knowledge of their target markets.

When you want to do a X game you hire a few "experts" in whatever place/time X is.

If you don't, I'm sure you'll do fine. And so well we. But something to remember: once we leave, we seldom come back. Are you certain Rakesh has all you need?

No, he doesn't. He has 90% and costs 10% which is what I actually need.

That this is skilled labor, not phone support shouldn't even need to be said, but here we are.

Cost concerns affect every form of labor, skilled or not. And if we talk about skill you can throw a stone in India and hit 50 talented developers/artists.

Yeah lol. Good luck with that. And you wonder why you've not got any good games from AAA lately. Creativity is not something replaced at a dime a dozen.

I know. I'm not saying it's good. I'm saying that's the way things are because: capitalism.