From unions to strikes, this has been a busy week | Kaser Focus
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If there’s a hot word for this week, it’s undoubtedly “union.” If you’d asked me at the beginning of the week what stories I thought I was going to see — I don’t know what answer I would have given, but “unionization efforts from within the industry’s top studios” probably wouldn’t have been the first or second response. But I’m pleased to see these developments in the industry nonetheless, especially after months and months and months of nothing but layoffs stories.
First we have the formation of the OneBGSUSA union at Bethesda Game Studios (which technically happened last week, but I didn’t talk about it in the last KF). 241 workers formed the first wall-to-wall union at a Microsoft studio. Then, this week, the World of Warcraft team formed the World of Warcraft Game Makers Guild, another wall-to-wall union that consists of over 500 members. In both cases, the unions formed following Microsoft’s 2022 labor neutrality agreement with the Communication Workers of America (the parent union). Microsoft has said it will engage in good faith negotiations with both unions.
We also this week have seen the importance of unions, as SAG-AFTRA has now called for a strike against video game publishers. According to the union, talks for a new contract broke down over AI-related concerns — in a news conference reported by the Associated Press, the two bodies couldn’t agree over what constituted a protected performer. We’ve also seen another major layoff story, as 36 workers at Humble Games have been laid off in what parent company Ziff Davis is calling a “restructuring.”
In personal news, I think it’s time for me to properly prepare for the upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Bioware revealed the game’s primary voice cast recently, which means that it’s time to start seriously thinking about the next phase of the story — and frankly, I need a refresher after 10 years. There are also a number of smaller games I want to check out, such as Rawmen, The Operator and A Star Named EOS.
Lil Snack & GamesBeat
GamesBeat is excited to partner with Lil Snack to have customized games just for our audience! We know as gamers ourselves, this is an exciting way to engage through play with the GamesBeat content you have already come to love. Start playing games now!
What to play this week
What’s new:
The Sims 4: Lovestruck Expansion
Rawmen: Food Fighter Arena
Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure
A Star Named EOS
F1 Manager 2024
Earth Defense Force 6
The Operator
The New Denpa Men
Exophobia
Cataclismo
Été
Valley Peaks
Critter Crops
Linkito
Thrasher
Kingdom Rush 5: Alliance
Sylvio: Black Waters
The Fall of Aether Station
Shift 87
Conscript
New on subscription platforms:
Cat Quest II (Prime Gaming)
Midnight Fight Express (Prime Gaming)
Masterplan Tycoon (Prime Gaming)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (GeForce Now)
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition (GeForce Now)
Gang Beasts (GeForce Now)
Kingdoms and Castles (GeForce Now)
The Settlers: New Allies (GeForce Now)
