According to a release from the union, CD Projekt Red developers have unionized under the Polish Gamedev Workers Union, PGWU for short. The Cyberpunk 2077 developer’s workers are the latest in a long line of game devs who have unionized in recent history, citing poor working conditions and long crunch hours while the billion-dollar industry continues to grow.
The union is an independent section under OZZ Inicjatywa Pracownicza, a trade union based in Poland. The PGWU began as a company commission.
The union’s stated goals include the promotion of “job security, fair treatment, and transparency,” and they intend to achieve their goal by “mutual support, education, and establishing equal communication with the employers as a strong voice for the workers’ interests,” aiming “not to start a fight but to have a dialogue.”
The union encourages workers of all employment classifications and specialties to join. The news comes after a renaissance for CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077, which has spiked sales and galvanized former players to return to the title.
No segment of the games industry has been without union activity. The complex three-party American VALORANT Player’s Association was established in 2022 in joint with the League of Legends professional player’s association. The employees of Raven Software won a union election in 2022. Avalanche Studios, the publisher of the Just Cause series, saw a unionization effort as well. Cards Against Humanity arguably started the unionization efforts at scale in the gaming industry after their move in 2020.
As profits in the gaming industry grow and workers are subjected to longer hours, worse pay, and hostile conditions, expect unionization efforts to continue. Gaming is a bigger industry than movies, yet it has fewer protections for workers. While executives at companies work to wring the blood from the stones of their workers, more and more studios will move to protect their livelihoods and fight for better conditions.
