Takket være staten Californiens aktive søgsmål imod Activision Blizzard er der igen kommet fokus på ringe arbejdsvilkår i spilbranchen, og de er langt fra de eneste der er kommet i fedtefadet. Udviklere har i årevis kaldt på dannelsen af fagforeninger, men disse er blevet skudt ned af virksomhedsledelser på tværs af hele branchen.
Men den holdning lader nu til at få mere fart på, for Jeff Strain, der blandt andet grundlagde ArenaNet, sidder som instruktør hos State of Decay-udvikleren Undead Labs og tidligere har arbejdet for netop Activision Blizzard, siger nu også at det er på høje tid.
I et åbent brev til IGN siger Strain, at det er tid for spilbranchen at se dannelsen af fagforeninger, der sikrer bedre arbejdsvilkår.
"The Activision Blizzard disclosures this week have left me disgusted and repulsed — but not at all surprised. In 1998, after a cataclysmic meeting with one of the founders over our objections to dismembered and impaled female body parts in the beta version of Diablo, my wife and I began planning to leave Blizzard. Ultimately, I joined with a few like-minded colleagues and moved a thousand miles away from the Blizzard sphere of influence to start an independent studio.
My time at Blizzard left an indelible mark on my life and career that continues to this day. Most importantly, it showed me how abusive cultures can propagate and self-amplify over time; how "hardcore gamers only" is a smokescreen for "bro culture"; how fostering a sense of exceptionalism inhibits people from speaking up because they should just deal with it if they love the company and its games; and how passive leadership that turns a blind eye can ultimately be the most abusive thing of all.
"We need unionization. Unions were started in this country to protect workers from abusive, cruel, abhorrent, unacceptable and illegal treatment from companies. That's their entire purpose. If this week does not show us that our industry colleagues — even the most entry-level QA tester — need true support and baseline protection, I can't imagine how much worse it will have to get."