Hot Labor Summer: Video Games Edition

This week, Nathan, Riley, and Chris tackle a very eventful week, beginning with news that broke mere minutes before we started recording: video game voice actors and mocap performers are going on strike. Major companies – including EA, Epic, and Activision – aren’t guaranteeing them necessary AI-related protections, so they’re taking to the picket line. We reflect on how things reached this boiling point and consider what might happen next. After that, we discuss Humble Games, which laid off its entire staff – replacing them with a third-party company – and had the gall to call it a “restructuring.” Then we talk about two big wins that might protect other game workers against similar ravages: Hundreds of game developers at both Blizzard and Bethesda unionized, giving them leverage previously unheard of among rank-and-file employees at massive, multinational video game companies. Next we discuss Ubisoft’s decision to try to appease bad-faith arguments against the next Assassin’s Creed, and then finally, Chris tells us about Kunitsu-Gami, a game that just sounds neat. Also, we decide which animal – aside from apes – would be the best gamer.    Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Riley MacLeod, and Chris Person - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.