GDC 2025 Session Viewer
Video Game Labor at a Crossroads: New Pathways to Industry-Wide Organizing (Presented by Communications Workers of America)
Brian Ostrander (Software Engineer, CODE-CWA)
Tom Smith (Sr. Director of Organizing, CWA)
KB (artist, CODE-CWA)
Autumn Mitchell (QA Tester, CODE-CWA)
Sam Cooper (Producer, CODE-CWA)
Location: Room 3020, West Hall
Date: Wednesday, March 19
Time: 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Pass Type: All Access Pass, Core Pass, Summits Pass, Expo Pass, Audio Pass, Indie Games Summit Pass - Get your pass now!
Track: Advocacy
Format: Sponsored Session
Vault Recording: Not Recorded
Audience Level: All
While video game workers have been successfully winning certified units in all types of workplaces and job titles, from AAA studios to independent developers, hundreds of thousands of game workers lack a clear pathway to union certification. The deepening crisis of politics and labor in the US and internationally is making the road to certification even harder, while the crisis in our own workplaces continues unabated - no end in sight to critical problems like severe overwork, racial and gender inequity, and unchecked corporate greed. In this session, workers from recently certified union campaigns are in conversation with a new wave of activists who are poised to shake up our conception of what it means to be a union.
Takeaway
Attendees will learn about the current state of video game organizing, current challenges labor organizers face and anticipate in this political environment, and how workers are creating new pathways to build power for video game workers.
Intended Audience
Anyone currently working in the video game industry who has an interest in changing the working conditions and transforming the industry for a more just and sustainable future.
