Anemone Hug Interactive, a game studio founded in Canada in 2015, forms the country’s first video game union. With this successful unionization process, the company has become the newest member of the Canadian Animation Guild, IATSE Local 938.
Today, not every country offers its employees the opportunity to unionize. Employees are now trying to gain this opportunity by joining forces. IATSE International Vice President and Director of Canadian Affairs John Lewis comments:
“For years, game workers in Canada have been working without the benefits and protections of a union collective agreement and without the strength of union representation. Today, a clear message has been sent to game workers in every province – forming a union is not only possible; it has been done.”
This year, we came across news of unionization from the game industry frequently around the world. At the beginning of the year, most of the QA employees of Raven Software united and started the unionization process under the Game Workers Alliance. Later, Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, stated that he supports this unionization process of Raven employees.
Related: Raven Software QA testers become the first official major video game union in the US
Phil Spencer is not the only name warm to the game industry’s unionization processes. Nintendo of America’s former boss, Reggie Fils-Aime, stated that game industry leaders should embrace unions.
Another unionization news came from the Canadian QA team of Keywords Studios last June. After the company’s “return-to-office” decision, 16 employees united and started the process by providing a majority.
