GDC 2025 Session Viewer

How can worker-owned game studios weather the unpredictable nature of the games industry while avoiding burnout and remaining viable- in all senses of the word? Soft Chaos Cooperative will start by presenting a case study of individual studio practices for cooperative studio sustainability. Comradery Cooperative will follow with a discussion of federated structures, navigating the secret world of "fintech" funding, and how cooperatives can come together to build structures that last. This talk will discuss practices at both the individual and collective levels that can help create resilient, equitable, and sustainable structures within the industry.

Takeaway

Attendees will come away with knowledge of studio practices that can encourage health and wellbeing and the long-term survival of a studio, despite the ups and downs of the industry. Additional takeaways will include discussion of regional-specific practices in co-op formation, why the cooperative model is such a resilient one for new studio founders, and how this model can support better labour practices across the entire industry. Moving beyond individual studio practices and models, this lecture will also address how studios might find greater power in federation and building collective power with other cooperatives and unions, spreading risk as well as reward. Parallels will be drawn with successful cooperative models both inside and outside of the games industry, and attendees will be given a starting point to building interconnected, sustainable cooperative studios.

Intended Audience

Future studio founders, small to medium studios who might want to transition to the cooperative model, individual workers seeking equitable careers, solo developers, and anyone who is interested in more equitable, sustainable business practices such as the cooperative model.