Video Games: A Labour of Love or an Abuse of Labour?

I’ll preface this by saying I have no idea about the state of labour practices at Playground Games. It just so happens that I’m playing Forza Horizon 4 at the minute and so it is this game that frames the piece.

Forza Horizon 4 is an absolutely beautiful game, the Forza series always have been. For a long time, racing games with their puddles on tarmac, brake lights in the night and the sun bouncing of exotic chassis have been an excellent show piece to illustrate just how powerful new hardware has become but also to show a studios mastery of the software they use to create these games. In Forza Horizon 4, I often find myself thinking just how photorealistic those puddles are, how good those brake lights look in the dark and marvel at how shiny those cars look.

The sun, the tarmac, it looks so crisp

As I drove through the games depiction of the North East, I had a moment where I noticed just how perfect the light and shadows bounced of my Ford Focus RS as I glided past a ridiculously accurate model of Bamborough Castle. That’s when it hit me. In a sudden epiphanic moment I realised that people had created all of this.

Now obviously I didn't think video games are plucked from trees, I’m fully aware games are created by people. However this was the first time whilst playing a game I thought ‘what about the devs, this is a striking amount of detail for people to create, it can’t have been easy’. I’m also not naive of the awful labour conditions within the industry, however this was the first time I had a ‘what if?’ type of suspicion whilst playing. Maybe this is because of the current climate I found myself in, Uber were taking part in a national strike, I had recently read pieces by Seva and Heather Alexandria about Assassin's Creed Odyssey and worker conditions and I have been wrestling with myself over the upcoming release of Red Dead Redemption 2, a game from a studio with a history of alleged terrible labour conditions.

Forza Horizon 4 is a painstakingly detailed world, one with an eye for ridiculous accuracy, be that in the form of perfectly modelled cars, with dashboards and engine sounds identical to the real life versions or accurate in a mechanical sense, with cars handling differently depending on their specifications or the environment they are driving in (Hitting big stagnant pools of water in the spring feels so good in this game, I don't know how they have managed it but there's a huge momentum shift and a drag that is portrayed through the controllers triggers and onscreen speed reduction, it feels amazing).

The lighting is really good

But it doesn’t stop there, not only is the world ridiculously detailed, there's an almost overwhelming amount of events for players to take part in, and that’s even before the game fully opens up and introduces you to the persistent seasonal world which adds weekly and daily challenges and also Forzathons, big cooperative group activities that happen each hour. All this detail, and all these things for us to do is directly the result of developers labour, their time, talent and creativity.

Oooo shiny

The realisation of how these games are created combined with the scope of them is what led me to become apprehensive. After spending the majority of my adult life so far working in hospitality and currently working somewhere where HR openly laughed at the suggestion of a union, I’m fully aware companies will happily take advantage and wring everything they possibly can out of their employees. Exploiting the need to provide for yourself, your family and your passion.

This has been a common occurrence and can be seen consistently throughout the game industry. There seems to be stories each month breaking about the abhorrent labour conditions in the form of unpaid overtime, 12+ hour working days and studios justifying crunch as the status quo. Add to that the rise of the gig economy with workers having temporary contracts until games are made and are then let go.  On top of these awful conditions there is then the saddening studio closures that have plagued 2018. Capcom Vancouver, Visceral and arguably the most egregious Telltale (Whilst studio closures are awful news in any circumstance, the shocking treatment of Telltale staff being kept in the dark and having no severance is absolutely repulsive).

So to be clear, I’m not accusing Playground Games of participating in these exploitations of labour, but it’s hard to play a game as big and detailed as Forza Horizon 4 and not think about the conditions the game was made in. The hours of labour that go into making a game with such scope and the fact that crunch is such an ingrained part of the culture makes it almost impossible to imagine the game hasn’t been crunched on given the opportunity that these companies have to exploit an already vulnerable workforce.

Take Red Dead Redemption 2 for example, Rockstar already has an alleged history of poor labour conditions. Pair this with the massively detailed world they are advertising for Red Dead Redemption 2 and it seems to be a logical conclusion to imagine 12+ hour days as developers face mounting pressure to ensure everything is ready for release at the end of the month.

Horse Balls.

So if companies are exploiting their workers and adopting poor working conditions, what is our personal responsibility as the people who buy and play these games? I have some ideas but I’m genuinely conflicted as most suggestions seem to ask more questions than give any answers.

For argument's sake, let's say Playground Games, Rockstar and Ubisoft all have terrible labour conditions and take advantage of their workers passion by forcing mandatory overtime on them because ‘they’re so lucky they get paid to make games’. Knowing this, it makes sense to conclude that buying games from these studios not only directly endorses the practices that creates these poor labour conditions but encourages them to continue to do so. Thus continuing the practice of poor working conditions, arguably this is why crunch and these conditions are seen as ‘just how it is’ in the industry.

So, should we boycott these games? If these companies are treating workers poorly, should we all ‘vote with our wallets’ and hit developers and publishers where it hurts and demand they make a change? After all, this is one of the few redeeming features of capitalism, the market can be dictated by the consumer (sometimes at least). We witnessed this with Star Wars Battlefront 2, fans were upset with the games pay to win marketplace and planned to boycott the game, because of this EA launched the game with no micro transactions (even if it was just to save face and they were later reinstated to a lesser extent). So can we do this to studios to ensure they improve their standard of labour conditions?

My fear is that by boycotting games from these studios, we could be punishing the already exploited devs. Does not buying these games mean that the devs who create them miss out on sales based bonuses? (if they are implemented) Taken to the nth degree, could it mean studios decreasing in size or even dissolving altogether? Thats certainly not the intended outcome. Granted this is the extreme, but it is not outside the realm of the possible. By demanding better of these companies and the industry as a whole, if things get significantly worse before they get better is it worth it?

Is being aware of the poor conditions and the context which games are made enough? or are we kidding ourselves? hoping that one day it will get better. What can I do? what can we do as people outside of the industry but with direct influence? Is tweeting about these awful conditions enough? By sharing articles and being labour conscious is this enough? What about showing solidarity with those who are trying to unionise?

Take the recent strikes by workers at Uber, TGI, McDonalds and Weatherspoons for example. I fully support those workers and hope they reach the deals that provide them with the best working conditions possible. To do so I can choose not to cross the picket line, to show solidarity. My worry is that until the games industry unionises, then boycotts and industrial action would have a detrimental effect on the very people we wish to help. At a complete loss, I contacted Game Workers Unite UK to find out if there is anything we can do at all.

Game Workers Unite is currently an ‘organisation that seeks to connect pro union activists, exploited workers and allies… in the name of building a unionised games industry.” In the UK, they seem to have found some success, as they are to become a legal trade union this winter as a branch of IWGB (Independent Workers Union of Great Britain).

After reaching out to GWU they suggested that players support would be crucial when they are legally formed into trade union. The idea of boycotts, though not rejected, would be taken as a complete last resort only if workers had voted and agreed on such a decision. What GWU did advocate for those who want to get involved was the organisation of socials and benefit events, for allies to attend demos and rallies and of course for us to share their material.

Another idea suggested was for people to continue creating content about the cause, be that writing articles about labour conditions, making videos and podcasts, or even going as far to create games exploring the problem. GWU’s big target was to be able to challenge some of the unfair work practices in court so it goes without saying that fundraising for legal teams will play a big part of what we can do as allies.

The conclusion I came to was that until the industry pulls together and unionises it is vital for us players to ensure we continue the conversation about the conditions the games we enjoy are created in. By continuing the discussion and raising awareness we help games workers get closer to the goal of unionising, thus ensuring fairer working conditions for all. The GWU UK has achieved some success in preparing to become a legal trade union, but that's just one drop in the ocean, there's still a long way to go.