by Joan Zahra Dark | Oct 9, 2024 | News, Video Games
Another month, another GYGO labor roundup. On a scale of “okay” to “god awful” for labor news, I’d rank this around a “general sense of malaise, but it could be worse!” This month, SAG-AFTRA strikes League of Legends as part of the ongoing video game actors’ strike in response to contractor Formosa Interactive trying to get around the striking union. Plus, a few smaller stories about Microsoft, again, and blatant generative AI use in games.
At the time this is being written, we face the one-year anniversary of Israel’s brutal attacks on Gaza and Palestinians that have now extended into Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran, among other countries. Israel has killed over 40,000 Palestinian people, with even more wounded, starving, tortured, and millions displaced from their destroyed homes. Operation Olive Branch has a master list of mutual aid resources right now. Donate, protest, talk about Palestine, just don’t be silent. (more…)
Joan Zahra Dark is a writer, organizer, and interdisciplinary artist. They love talking about queer comics, stories that can only be told through interactive mediums, worker cooperatives and gay robots. They’re based in Queens, NYC.
by Joan Zahra Dark | Sep 4, 2024 | News, Video Games
Hey, Labor Day is this week—what a great time for another games roundup. Unless, of course, you live anywhere besides the US and Canada, where the rest of the world celebrates Labor Day on May 1st. Know your history, kids! In any case, we’ve got three headline stories this month, with the news of Tango Gameworks being revived, SAG-AFTRA waffling on their fight for video game actors, and a spotlight on the increasingly stressful working conditions at Bungie.
Because there are just too many layoff stories to count, GYGO Labor is also including the Games Industry Layoffs tracker maintained by Farkhan Noor at the top of each of these reports going forward to make sure we’re doing our due diligence on any stories not covered in larger detail here.
Here is your reminder of the ongoing genocide Israel is carrying out in Palestine. Now more than ever, as much of the Western world is attempting to move on from the genocide, we need to keep speaking about Palestine and fighting for a permanent ceasefire. If you’re in the United States and unsure where to start, the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights has a great toolkit to help get you involved. Sidequest colleague Zainabb Hull’s weekly Crips for Palestine newsletter collects actions that disabled folks can take in solidarity with Palestine every week if you’re looking for another incredible resource. (more…)
Joan Zahra Dark is a writer, organizer, and interdisciplinary artist. They love talking about queer comics, stories that can only be told through interactive mediums, worker cooperatives and gay robots. They’re based in Queens, NYC.
by Joan Zahra Dark | Jul 31, 2024 | News, Video Games
I’m so glad we have some genuinely good games labor news for a change. I mean, hi, I’m Joan, and this is Sidequest’s games labor roundup. How are you?
This month, we’ve got stories about new unions across Bethesda Game Studios and Activision Blizzard, as well as the latest around video game performers’ strike with SAG-AFTRA that’s been nearly two years in the making.
At the top of all our stories is your reminder of the ongoing genocide Israel is carrying out in Palestine. Now, more than ever, as much of the Western world is attempting to move on from the genocide, we need to keep speaking about Palestine and fighting for a permanent ceasefire. If you’re in the United States, the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights has a great toolkit to help get you involved if you’re not sure where to start. Sidequest colleague Zainabb Hull’s weekly Crips for Palestine newsletter collects actions that disabled folks can take in solidarity with Palestine every week if you’re looking for another incredible resource. (more…)
Joan Zahra Dark is a writer, organizer, and interdisciplinary artist. They love talking about queer comics, stories that can only be told through interactive mediums, worker cooperatives and gay robots. They’re based in Queens, NYC.
by Joan Zahra Dark | Jun 26, 2024 | News, Video Games
Hey, it’s Joan here to give another roundup of labor news in the games industry! E3n’t has come and gone and the biggest developers have put out lots of shiny new game announcements to conveniently distract from a billion-dollar industry that’s harder to keep a job in every day, yay! This month, we’ve got a “special” spotlight on how video game company executives are pushing generative AI by any means necessary. There are other stories on layoffs and studio shutdowns surrounding this that we’ll be getting to, but it’s real bad this month and we can’t let this go without saying something.
As we say at the top of all our news stories, Israel is still carrying out an ongoing genocide in Palestine. If you’re in the United States, the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights has a great toolkit to help get you involved if you’re not sure where to start. Sidequest colleague Zainabb Hull’s weekly Crips for Palestine newsletter collects actions that disabled folks can take in solidarity with Palestine every week if you’re looking for another incredible resource. (more…)
Joan Zahra Dark is a writer, organizer, and interdisciplinary artist. They love talking about queer comics, stories that can only be told through interactive mediums, worker cooperatives and gay robots. They’re based in Queens, NYC.
by Joan Zahra Dark | May 22, 2024 | News, Video Games
Hey, it’s Joan with another roundup of labor news from the video game industry! I originally typed out “highlights” instead of “news,” but on second glance calling studio closures and layoffs “highlights” felt pretty bad! This month, we’re focusing on recent high-profile studio closures, with Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin shuttered along with similar stories for Roll7 and Intercept Games.
As other GYGOs have mentioned, a quick reminder to support Palestine and Palestinian people however you can during this genocide. The team over at People Make Games, one of the only large voices in the games industry openly supporting Palestine, has a great video outlining why we can’t afford to be silent. If you’re in the United States, the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights has a great toolkit to help get you involved if you’re not sure where to start. Please do what you can.
(more…)
Joan Zahra Dark is a writer, organizer, and interdisciplinary artist. They love talking about queer comics, stories that can only be told through interactive mediums, worker cooperatives and gay robots. They’re based in Queens, NYC.
![A screenshot from the Cozy Grove press kit overlaid with "GET YOUR GAME ON" and "[COZY GAMES]".](https://sidequest.zone/wp-content/uploads/wordpress-popular-posts/107896-featured-200x0.jpg)
Recent Comments