User:Berna Bereit Master Thesis Public Moment

Concept

• qr code leading to website: https://bernadettegeiger.com/time-to-break.html
• short insight on topic
• Real or Realistic?
• mixture of labor unions in games and in video game industry

Audio Script

Working Title: Between real and realistic

Introduction

Video games are a growing medium that is increasingly used as a platform for social and political discourse. The representation of labor and trade unions in games not only reflects historical and contemporary conflicts, but also provides a framework to address system criticism, solidarity and collective action. Since Role Play Games (RPG) are becoming more realistic, trying to imitate reality not only by its graphics but also by its in-game narratives and (historical) game spaces, the game is becoming an immersive experience, blurring the boundaries of reality and fiction. No matter if you’re riding as Arthur Morgan and the infamous Van der Linde gang across America at the dawn of the modern age in Red Dead Redemption 2, rescuing the mysterious imprisoned girl Elizabeth as the U.S. Cavalry veteran Booker DeWitt in Bioshock Infinite or defeat revival gangs to bring freedom to the oppressed masses during The Industrial Revolution in London 1868 as Jacob Frye in Assassin’s Creed Syndicate, players are traveling from the physical reality into the virtual universe of the game through the screen.

Labor in Games

Displayed as side stories to the main plot or sometimes just by actively interacting with or through observing non-player characters (NPCs), players can gain deeper insights into the gamespace.

As Booker DeWitt, you pass the wall of Employment, where workers bid by offering the least amount of time to complete the task.

Job auction in BioShock Infinite (‌NiZZULiVΞ, 2013)

Only if you find a miner’s hat that disguises you from being Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2, people will treat you like a miner at the Old Light Saloon of Van Horn Trading Post.

I'll Give You Insight (2023). This Interaction Works Better When Arthur Wears The Miner’s Hat | Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2). [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v-QkC3xE7g [Accessed 22 Oct. 2024]

Riding to the mine of Annesburg where deep underground NPCs mine coal under physically demanding conditions, Arthur asks them:

Arthur is helping the poor miners, miner replying to question if everything is good “yes” (AshwinY, 2023)

Working Conditions in Game Development

While NPCs are programmed with little autonomy working in endless loops to support the realism of the gamespace, artists, engineers, programmers and designers face periods of unpaid overtime to speed up lagging video game productions — called “Crunch”.

Being dependent on every job offer, game developers work overtime building a reputation as team players, also to higher their chances of being recommended for further positions. After three to nine years most developers quit the game industry due to a lack of quality of life (cf. Cote, Harris, 2021).

Employees share their experiences during the production of video games in the Game Developer magazine, saying:

»you cannot plan when inspiration will strike« (June 2002, p. 32)

»Game development was once described to me as building a house on top of a moving train. In space. With dinosaurs. It’s never an easy process, and you have to learn to deal with the unexpected.« (January 2010, p. 8)

»For three years I basically lived at work. I paid rent on an apartment that was empty; that I never lived at. Because of the fact that I was an amateur entering into a world where there were other professionals working, I had to work three times as hard as everybody else… So I was there all night long. But, what I would do is, I would stick my head under the kitchenette’s warm water spout, and wash my hair there, and strip down and take a towel and take a sponge bath. And since there’s nobody there, I can completely just take it all off. But that’s just how I lived, day after day!« (May 2009, p. 5)

Cultures of secrecy and overwork, as well as specific labor practices, all contribute to “a particular class of objective regularities” (Bourdieu, 1990, p. 55) or a framework in which crunch becomes a logical solution to a persistent problem (cf. Cote, Harris, 2021).

Unionizing

»There is a lot of history in the game industry as rooted in nerds in garages and doing it for the love of it. That has just filtered down into places expecting employees to just go above and beyond without question, all the time.» (p. 136)

»Keeping people’s hours reasonable must be a company priority. I submit that it should be one of your company’s essential values. Otherwise, and especially if it hasn’t been a key value to date, when confronted with a difficult situation, it’ll be too easy to backslide into old habits.« (January 2005, p. 20)

As a response to the crunch, artists, engineers, programmers and designers from triple-A companies to smaller indie game studios have begun to unionize.

Bethesda Game Studios employees have formed the first ever "wall-to-wall union" at Microsoft consisting of 241 developers including artists, engineers, programmers and designers (cf. Kerr, 2024a).

UK trade union IWGB Game Workers has expanded to over 1,500 members (Kerr, 2024b).

Simultaneously unrest between the miners from Red Dead Redemption 2 appears, demanding higher payments and wanting to form a union due to a lack of safety in the mine. Captured in a newspaper article saying:

»EXPLOSION IN COAL MINE«
In Roanoke Ridge an explosion set off by a miner's lamp in Miners Shaft No. 9 has killed up to twenty men.
The town of Annesburg was plunged into confusion and despair as women and children were bewailing the deaths of husbands and fathers. The mine is owned by Archibald Jameson who said the company has been careful to provide every possible facility to prevent explosions, but notes that the mine has always been gaseous.
The accident comes as many workers complain about the long hours, unsafe conditions and low pay and are seeking to organize a union to address such issues.« (to, C., 2024)

(Research) Questions

How does the visual and narrative design of games affect the perception of social realities and to what extent can these representations stimulate reflection on labor (unions) and historical events? Who has the agency for the visual and narrative concepts? What happens when the lines between reality and realism blurr?

References

AshwinY (2023). What Happens If Arthur Tries To Help The Poor Miners In Annesburg? - RDR2. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82INAQY0rEU [Accessed 22 Oct. 2024].

Cote, A.C., Harris, B.C., 2021. ‘Weekends became something other people did’: Understanding and intervening in the habitus of video game crunch. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 27, 161–176. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354856520913865

Kerr, C. (2024a). Bethesda Game Studios workers form ‘wall-to-wall union’ at Microsoft. [online] Gamedeveloper.com. Available at: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/bethesda-game-studios-form-wall-to-wall-union-at-microsoft [Accessed 2 Nov. 2024].

Kerr, C. (2024b). UK union IWGB Game Workers launches manifesto after topping 1,500 members. [online] Gamedeveloper.com. Available at: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/production/uk-union-iwgb-game-workers-launches-manifesto-after-topping-1-500-members [Accessed 2 Nov. 2024].

Nieuwdorp, E., 2005. The Pervasive Interface: Tracing the Magic Circle.

NiZZULiVΞ (2013). BioShock Infinite Job Auction Bidding Citizens Town Square Plaza of Zeal Finkton. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AVihhOrVUI [Accessed 1 Nov. 2024].

to, C. (2016). Red Dead Redemption 2 Cut Content. [online] Red Dead Wiki. Available at: https://reddead.fandom.com/wiki/Red_Dead_Redemption_2_Cut_Content [Accessed 21 Oct. 2024].

to, C. (2024). Twenty Miners Killed. [online] Red Dead Wiki. Available at: https://reddead.fandom.com/wiki/Twenty_Miners_Killed [Accessed 21 Oct. 2024].