The price of games has been going up without unions
Developers with high-selling games have gone under
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Bernie Sanders pushes for gaming industry unionization
- Thread starter Chindogg
- Start date
Developers with high-selling games have gone under
"forced unionization" is not a thing. All the concentrated power structures in our political and economic system are opposed to unions. A union is only achieved when workers are able to organize themselves into a critical mass capable of overcoming the boss' efforts to undermine them. That's an extremely difficult task. Especially when you run the risk of being fired and blacklisted every step of the way.
If the average dev doesn't switch to another industry after 5 years the industry as a whole will become more experienced. You can work smarter instead of longer with better planning and make less mistakes and increase productivity. You might see more AAA games if the industry becomes more stable.
CoRpOrAtIoN aReN't ChArItIeS.
But yeah, whenever the scare line is tossed out, "Games will get more expensive and companies will go under" I am wondering why that is happening now without these "awful pro workers and pro consumer ideas" being implemented and embraced. It's almost like it's bullshit and the big corps will do these things with or without these policies just for a negligible uptick in their stock value.
Kay?
It should be, and they should close.
If a company can't provide a workplace that's not soul crushing it shouldn't exist, that's the basis of unionization efforts (the end game is the democratization of the workforce). If the industry can't support better labor regulations it shouldn't exist.
Who currently pays the price of executive salaries?
https://kotaku.com/former-gearbox-lawyer-accuses-ceo-randy-pitchford-of-ta-1831679539
It already is. The reason most big names still have US studios is because of tax incentives and state funding. That doesn't vanish if you unionize.
Pfft, can't he just stick to economic policy and healthcare reform? I hate seeing gaming inserted into politics like this, it always seems so forced. I just want to be able to talk about the potential benefits and dangers of a United European army without it always being turned into some discussion about the new Tifa design or... NPDs shudder
how is the *labor* of game development not economic policy?
Send me to the guillotine if this post was intended as irony.
Those companies would probably move to right to work friendly states like Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas and use even more outsourcing to ship games.
This is not how a market economy functions and businesses already do. Its called "creative destruction."
Off with yer head!
It will increase the cost of game development no matter how you look at it, esp AAA
Warren has a suspect position on Iran (disagrees with Trump's methodology but keeps vaguely stating we need to "stand up to Iran,") states she's for Medicare for All but refuses to say what she thinks that actually is (she has a page on her website dedicated to "making the military green" but nothing for healthcare,) and proudly states her position as a capitalist, going so far as to be a registered Republican up until the 90s because she "believed they were the best for markets." She's not further left than Bernie and I can't think of a single issue she's better on.
Don't have to tell me twice!
I hope he is running as a Democrat, because if he runs third party, Scump is going to win again. A vote for a third party is a wasted vote, sadly.
Lol the industry posts an OBSCENE level of profits every year. The solution is "pay the administrative and corporate level people less" if they cared about continuing rises in profit while having baseline industry working standards.
We all know why they won't, but that's certainly not the fault of people demanding equitable opportunity and a workspace that's healthy. All this talk about "boycotts" and shit for these issues and if the end consumer can't square the slight increases in costs then that's all just empty virtue signaling.
Eventually things need to improve.
We all know why they won't, but that's certainly not the fault of people demanding equitable opportunity and a workspace that's healthy. All this talk about "boycotts" and shit for these issues and if the end consumer can't square the slight increases in costs then that's all just empty virtue signaling.
Eventually things need to improve.
If games can only be at the price they currently are on the back of abuse, mistreatment, threats, burnouts, terrible work-life balance, and little job security, then we don't deserve games to be this cheap. Stop thinking about nothing other than your own bellybutton.
He is running as a democrat so you can rest easy. However, at some point we need to come to terms with the fact that the Democratic party is never going to voluntarily adopt Sanders' social democratic and class-conscious approch to politics.
We do need to build independent working class organizations and eventually a worker/labor/socialist party that competes with the Dems. I just don't think it can start at presidential elections.
I never understood why there didn't from a proper labor movement in the US in the 20th century, one that pushed for unionization in all fields.
The US being governed by corporations is pretty much direct result of workers giving up their voice and influence in exchange for nothing but a measly vote.
The US being governed by corporations is pretty much direct result of workers giving up their voice and influence in exchange for nothing but a measly vote.
The system needs to legitimize third parties first by giving them a seat at the table. It's ridiculous that they are not invited to participate in the major debates, nor do they have a spot in the halls of Congress.
Can someone answer me this: How common are labour/collective agreements in the US?
Because that is how a lot of European countries do it. Way way way more people are affected by them than are actually part of a union.
It's actually 100% of workers in some countries, without the need for a union.
Because that is how a lot of European countries do it. Way way way more people are affected by them than are actually part of a union.
It's actually 100% of workers in some countries, without the need for a union.
Two parties are easier for the lobbyist class to push threw their agendas that way. Third or even multiple parties are ideal but... that is a dream in the States.
Unions lost a lot of power in the 2nd half of the 20th which led to our current situation. Didn't help that during and after the red scare unions were painted as being associated with the Soviet Union
Could maybe push to outlaw right to work laws?
There was. Check out the 1934 Minneapolis general strike. The US has a rich labor history. While we celebrate "labor day", most of the world's day for workers is "May Day"... which commemorates an American event: the Haymarket strike and the fight for the 8-hour work day.
We've grown up in the aftermath of a total assault on worker consciousness fueled by the cold war's red scare politics.
Obama failed to deliver on making it easier to unionize.
There were many. They were murdered, imprisoned, and what little was left of them subsumed but the behemoth before being entirely abandoned in the early 70's. The US had some of the bloodiest labor wars in the world.
But of course that bit of US history is mysteriously cut from what we teach in schools.
Taft-Hartley destroyed the US labor movement just as it was about to be a viable force. McCarthyism was just the nail in the coffin.
This is a major reason I abandoned the Democrats. Obama said in 2007 if collective bargaining rights were threatened: "I'll put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself. I'll walk on that picket line with you". Then Chicago teachers went on strike, creating a conflict between teachers and Obama's buddy Rahm Emanuel, Obama did nothing to support the strike.
And yeah, as you rightly point out, Obama's failure to do the bare minimum on EFCA was a total betrayal. This is all in the context of bailing out fraudulent Wall St banks to the tune of nearly $1T and stacking his cabinet with Wall st execs and lobbyists. The Democrats are not friendly to workers.
Other things to consider:
-longer dev time
-more expensive games for consumer
-slower content updates for live games and bug fixes
-fewer game releases per year
-thin margins make games more cookie cutter as studios less likely to try new things bec every game has to be successful
-fewer new studios/entrants to market
-more micro transactions to make up for lost revenue
-move away from singleplayer to monetized multiplayer
-union strikes result in no games getting made for days/weeks/months at a time
-fewer jobs as studios downsize and industry shrinks
-Studios go under
-seniority out ranks talent and it becomes difficult for young people with new ideas to really break into the industry
-compensation based on seniority and not talent
-union dues eat up employees income, no bonuses
It's 2019 not 1902.
-longer dev time
-more expensive games for consumer
-slower content updates for live games and bug fixes
-fewer game releases per year
-thin margins make games more cookie cutter as studios less likely to try new things bec every game has to be successful
-fewer new studios/entrants to market
-more micro transactions to make up for lost revenue
-move away from singleplayer to monetized multiplayer
-union strikes result in no games getting made for days/weeks/months at a time
-fewer jobs as studios downsize and industry shrinks
-Studios go under
-seniority out ranks talent and it becomes difficult for young people with new ideas to really break into the industry
-compensation based on seniority and not talent
-union dues eat up employees income, no bonuses
It's 2019 not 1902.
OP
OP
My guy "everything has to be successful" is the case now. Like, you think these monolithic corporate superstructures are not demanding everything hit milestones or face mass layoffs?
You're right, it's not 1902, in 1902 the US had a strong, cogent labor movement that fought for the rights of labor and the working class. My guy all of your points are hysterics in no basepoint in reality. And even if literally all of them are true, it doesn't matter. The end result is that working conditions need to improve. That's it. That's all that matters.
Literally all of those things happen without unions minus the strikes. Plus hobbiests and nonunion studios will still make games in the event of a strike.