Welcome to Game Worker Solidarity
Austin Kelmore
When I started out organising as a game worker three years ago, I knew absolutely nothing about organising or unions and had to learn so much of the history of game worker organising by randomly stumbling across articles or having people mention events to me. This site is something I wished I had at that time to help me understand how many other game workers in the industry are pushing for better working conditions and a better industry.
It's easy at times when facing difficulties at work to fall into the trap of thinking that no one has ever faced the problems that you have and that no one is fighting the same fight. We hope to dispel that common feeling by collecting all the public events that have happened when game workers stand up with other game workers. We want this site to be a living archive and a testament the struggles of our industry.
There's a rich history of game workers organising together to improve the lives of themselves and those who come after them going back all the way to the 1950s. We hope this resource that includes almost 70 years worth of events will be an inspiration for any game worker who is thinking of trying to improve their workplace.
Our struggle is an international one and while we hope to record everything that has happened, we also know we've likely missed some events due to not being aware of them or not being able to find them due to not speaking the local language. If you see something that is missing from this archive, please submit it! And if you'd like to get in contact with us to ask us a question or let us know if you've found this site useful, we'd love to hear from you at [email protected].
This site is a collaboration by game workers, academics, and organisers the world over. The best way to improve the games industry is if all of us push together. Solidarity! ✊