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ENGLISH BELOW
A few days ago, the Game Awards were held, a pompous ceremony designed to reward the « best » video games of the year. This usual promotional event, a new substitute for E3, once again excluded the employees behind the same games.
- A large proportion of the awards were announced from a small stage in the background, without bringing up the winners. Spotlights shouldn’t be put on the people who make the « best » games.
- For those who were able to go on stage, the developers were given only 30 seconds to speak. One developer was cut off during a tribute to a deceased team member.
By comparison, a Muppet Show puppet was interviewed for two minutes without interruption. - The ceremony offered a nice promotion for a game whose studio, Game Science, was the subject of an article denouncing the company’s sexist climate. The company’s victims will not get a word.
- Over 6,000 redundancies in industry this year. Here again: silence on the topic.
- Destiny 2 was awarded « Best Community Support ». Shortly before the ceremony, Bungie – the developer studio – fired a large part of the team of Community Managers who should have been celebrated that evening.
- The ethnic cleansing practised by the Israeli state in the Gaza Strip was also overlooked, despite an open letter calling for it to be raised. The letter was signed by over 2900 video game developers, including half of the Game Awards Future Class (the Games Awards’ diversity/inclusion initiative).
The Games Awards fits into the usual dynamics of these kinds of corporate events: promoting products, brands and companies; rebranding toxic personalities or companies; invisibilizing and silencing workers, etc.
Host and producer Geoff Keighley has chosen the comfortable position of the industry’s employer’s henchman. Perhaps he likes video games?Yet he has shown nothing but contempt for the video games workers.
So let’s take this opportunity with costumes and sequins to recall these very simple truths conscientiously obscured:
- Video games are made by entire teams, not by their bosses on stage.
- Video games workers are subject to the same pressures and logics of subordination as in any company in any industry.
- Improving their working conditions requires the same solutions: de-invisibilization, collective self-help and power relations with management.
UNIONIZE NOW
