UK game workers union launches manifesto calling for end to crunch

A union for UK-based video game developers has launched its first manifesto, with ambitions to improve conditions for its 1500 members.

In particular, the Independent Workers of Great Union (IWGB) says it wants to improve job security and the industry’s reliance on enforced overtime, often known as crunch.

The manifesto launch comes at a time when countless companies are laying off workers, with 900 UK game developers laid off across the country last year. Globally, that number is currently estimated at around 13,000 in 2024 alone.

Originally founded five years ago, the IWGB says its membership has grown as a result of the layoffs of the past few years, with a spike in membership of 50 percent over the past 12 months.

“The games industry has reached a tipping point,” Austin Kelmore, chair of the IWGB Game Workers Branch said. “After another year battling this relentless onslaught of layoffs, workers are realising that things urgently need to change, and are unionising on a scale never seen before.

“The people who choose to work in the games sector are some of the most passionate, creative, dedicated people you’ll ever meet, and studio bosses rely on that passion to exploit us without fair pay, conditions or job security. Together, we can make sure the games industry’s future looks very different. Stable work, fair pay, a balanced work schedule – all these are well within reach if we stand together to demand them in unison.”

The manifesto, which is now available online, lists the following key initiatives. On working hours and overtime, it wants to ensure “no overtime” rules cannot be enforced, and any voluntary overtime is properly compensated. There’s also mention of a push to a four-day work week, and a guarantee of mental health days as part of sick leave.

On pay, the manifesto asks that annual increases keep pace with inflation, and compare more favourably to other countries with equal costs of living. There’s mention of ending the gender pay gap via submission of data to the Gender Pay Gap service, plus equal parental leave and ownership models or bonus schemes to more equitably share company profits.

Elsewhere, the manifesto calls for transparent pay, particularly for management teams, notice periods for fixed-term contracts, and guarantees for being credited on projects – even if you are no longer at the company.

Last month, Sony’s former president suggested games industry layoffs were not the result of corporate greed and anyone affected was free to go “drive an Uber”.