There has been a wave of layoffs in the video game industry since the beginning of 2023. That has led to the growing call for game industry workers to unionize. After CD Projekt Red announced the third round of layoffs, the staff of the company formed a union as a means of “improving their workplace/industry standards in a way that has legal power and amplifies their voice”.
The game developers came together under the Polish Gamedev Workers Union (PGWU). The body describes itself as a “trade union connecting all professions and people working in the game development sector in Poland”. Also, the body is part of the national union OZZ Inicjatywa Pracownicza (OZZ IP) which covers “many different sectors and companies”.
“It means that we have access to the legal support, experience, and networks of a larger union while being able to independently operate within our section,” Gamedevunion.pl explained on their website. “We have full control over what we do and how we do it.
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PGWU started as a company commission at CD Projekt Red with the role of magnifying the concerns of workers about their safety and working conditions. OZZ IP, on the other hand, is a grassroots, self-governing trade union established by the workers of Cegielski in Poznan and local tenant movements.
“We joined forces with people from other companies to represent all Polish gamedev workers and improve the employment conditions in the whole industry,” PGWU wrote. “For this to happen, we need to encourage gamedev workers to act.”
Back in July, CD Projekt Red laid off roughly 100 employees (about 9% of its workforce). The company’s CEO, Adam Kiciński, blamed the layoffs on “deep transformations within the studio”. According to PGWU, this layoff affected “our mental health and led to the creation of this union in response”.
“We started talking about unionizing after the 2023 wave of layoffs when 9% of Reds (that is roughly 100 people) were let go,” the union explained on its website. “Having a union means having more security, transparency, better protection, and a stronger voice in times of crisis.”
CD Projekt Red devs are seeking protection through the union
Statistics from Video Game Layoffs estimate that at least 6,100 people have been laid off in the industry since the beginning of this year. No fewer than 29 staff were fired at CD Projekt’s Molasses Flood Studio working on the spin-off of The Witcher codenamed Project Sirius. The company also revealed that about 30 employees working on Gwent would be laid off.
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“We believe that the mass layoffs are a danger to the gamedev industry, and we believe that unionizing is a way for us to preserve the industry’s potential,” read the union’s F.A.Q.
PGWU calling on all gamedevs in the Polish game industry to join the “support network” and “get a platform to exchange experiences and know-how with peers”. The union doesn’t cover CD Projekt Red staff working in Vancouver as well as those not on a Polish contract.
In an interview with the founders of the union, Lev Ki and Paweł Myszka, published on CD-Action, the duo was asked how CD Projekt Red management reacted to the formation of the union.
“We haven’t had any response from them yet,” Myszka said. “We have submitted all the documents to the legal department, everything is formally organized. Our relationship is working and slowly developing.”
When asked how many people have joined the union, Ki declined to give a direct answer for legal reasons. However, he stated that “a minimum of 10 people is needed to set up a trade union commission”. Also, he noted that “the rest of the crew is positive towards us, which is a good sign”.
What are the obligations of PGWU members?
According to the Gamedevunion.pl website, any Polish game developer working under a Polish contract can join the union. Also, “union membership is anonymous”, meaning only union members will know each other (through their discord server) but will remain anonymous to people outside the union. However, union members can reveal their membership to anyone they want.
At the moment, the primary focus of the union is “grouping Reds” to attain “a unique, common voice”. As a result of the sweeping changes currently ongoing at CD Projekt, the union wants “the employees’ voices to be directly heard when making decisions that affect all of us”.
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Those willing to join the union will have to “fill out a membership declaration” and take it to the union’s Warsaw office or send a physical copy to the union in any way possible. Intending union members are asked to fill out a Polish version of the form. However, an English version was provided for reference.
Union members are required to pay a monthly fee of 16 PLN (approx. $3.69). Out of that amount, 6 PLN (approx. $1.38) will go to OZZ IP while the rest will stay with the union. The money will be used “to create promotional materials, collaborate on long-term union policy, and fund training for Union members.”
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