Video game development
Process of developing a video game
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July 2024 | Bethesda Game Studios employees unionized under the Communications Workers of America, and over 500 employees in Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft division also unionized with CWA. |
January 2023 | Bruce Straley called for video game industry unionization after not being credited in The Last of Us HBO adaptation, highlighting the need to protect creators. |
June 2022 | Video game workers in Edmonton, Canada, unanimously voted to unionize for the first time. |
2021 | The video game industry had still not experienced its 'Me Too moment' despite widespread allegations of harassment and discrimination. |
2021 | Several smaller game studios in the United States began unionization efforts, primarily involving quality assurance teams at Blizzard Entertainment and Zenimax Media. |
December 2021 | Game Workers Unite Australia was formed under Professionals Australia, set to become active in 2022. |
2020 | Major investigations into sexual harassment and workplace discrimination were brought against prominent game companies like Riot Games, Ubisoft, and Activision Blizzard. |
June 2020 | Paradox Interactive became one of the first major publishers to support unionization efforts for its Swedish employees. |
January 2020 | Game Workers Unite and the Communications Workers of America launched the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE) to push for video game developer unionization. |
2019 | IGDA survey revealed significant racial representation disparities in the video game industry, with only 2% of developers identifying as African descent and 7% Hispanic, contrasting sharply with the more diverse U.S. population demographics. |
February 2019 | Activision Blizzard announced layoffs of 775 employees despite record profits, prompting further calls for unionization from the AFL-CIO. |
2018 | U.S. Census estimates highlighted the significant demographic discrepancy, showing the U.S. population as 13% African descent and 18% Hispanic, in stark contrast to the industry's representation. |
2018 | Game Workers Unite UK was legally established as a trade union by the end of the year. |
September 2018 | Game Workers Unite highlighted the sudden closure of Telltale Games, which left 250 employees without warning, as an argument for industry unionization. |
March 2018 | Game Workers Unite held a roundtable discussion with the International Game Developers Association during the Game Developers Conference to discuss the need for unionization. |
2017 | An ESA survey revealed that 41% of video game players were female, further highlighting the significant gender gap in game development. |
2017 | An IGDA survey found that the female demographic in game development had risen to about 20%, showing a gradual increase in women's representation in the industry. |
2017 | Game Workers Unite grassroots movement was established to discuss unionization of game developers. |
2017 | SAG-AFTRA voice actor strike concluded after over 300 days with a new deal between the union and publishers. |
2016 | Voice actors in SAG-AFTRA union initiated a strike against major video game publishers, demanding better royalty payments and performance safety provisions. |
2016 | IGDA survey revealed significant age demographics in the video game development industry, showing only 3% of developers were over 50 years old, while approximately two-thirds were between 20 and 34 years old. |
2015 | Continued IGDA survey investigations confirmed persistent racial disparities in job positions, salaries, and representation within the video game development industry. |
2014 | The Gamergate controversy occurred, which involved significant harassment of female game developers and contributors in the gaming industry. |
2014 | International Game Developers Association survey found that more than half of 2,200 developers surveyed favored unionization. |
2014 | IGDA conducted a survey examining job positions and salaries, finding that people of color were underrepresented in senior management roles and systematically underpaid compared to white developers. |
2014 | Neversoft merges with Infinity Ward game development studio. |
2010 | The 'Rockstar Spouses' case drew further public attention to harsh working conditions, specifically focusing on the workplace environment at Rockstar San Diego and highlighting ongoing issues of excessive overtime in game development. |
This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia article Video game developer, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.