So what are these unions?The Communications Workers of America is a labor union created to protect the rights of those in the telecommunications and information technology, and it seeks to protect the rights of telecommunication and information technology workers. The group started out in 1938 as the National Federation of Telephone workers and has since grown to over 700,000 members, and has plans to expand to the game industry. They also organize worker strikes, having organized over 13 since 1955, and is headquartered in Washington D.C What will they do in the game industry?The major significance of this potential move would be to bring a labor union to an industry that is largely devoid of such an organization. According to the Hollywood Reporter, "Nearly half (47 percent) of workers polled in the 2019 Game Developers Conference "State of the Industry" survey supported staffers' calls to unionize. And game workers are becoming increasingly vocal about their workplaces. A staff walkout last May at League of Legends maker Riot Games roiled the industry over the company's forced arbitration policy disclosed in a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and gender pay disparity. (Riot settled claims in August.) And Blizzard incited ire inside and outside of its Irvine offices when it suspended a professional Hearthstone player following pro-Hong Kong protester statements in October.". This shows that many more workers are gaining an interest in idea of unionizing due to "unjust policies", which further inform us that workers will likely welcome this with open arms. However, there are some skeptics including Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick, who is unsure of the potential consequences unionizing would bring upon the industry. It is also important to note that CWA is willing to work with Game Workers Unite, a group that wants to unionize the game industry. To sum it up, even experts are unsure about the potential consequences of unionization. To sum it up...
ReferencesShanley, Patrick. “Game Makers Stare Down Major Union Drive.” The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Jan. 2020, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/video-game-makers-stare-down-major-union-drive-1269510.
“Communications Workers of America.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Jan. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Workers_of_America. “About.” Communications Workers of America, 16 Sept. 2019, cwa-union.org/about.
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So what group is becoming into video games?The answer to this question may surprise you. It appears that the oldies, otherwise known as the 50+ generation or the Baby Boomers, are actually the fastest growing group of gamers, according to a new study by the AARP. One example of how this is happening is in senior living houses, digital bowling is now becoming commonplace.. This rapid increase in senior playing video games is further showcased by the seismic shift of 50+ people playing video games, in 2016 only 40 million 50+ people played video games, In 2019, that number skyrocketed to about 44% of oldies, more than 50 million people! Senior citizens alone spent 4 billion dollars on video games in 2019, which further showcases this groups rapid interest in video games. So why is this happening?Senior citizens are getting more exposed to video games and are picking them up as a hobby. There are many possible reasons for this. One,many of these old people have seen kids play them and may have thought that they looked fun. Second, due to the increased usage of mobile devices, more old people have access to these devices, which lets them be exposed to video game ads. Since a lot of these old people have facebook accounts, video game companies may start there. But why invest in boomers. As the Baby boom generation is getting older, theo population of those over 50 is rapidly increasing, which is showcased by a Harvard study which showed that 34% of the U.S population is in this age group, which makes them a very lucrative group for video game companies to target. To sum it up...
ReferencesRodriguez, Maya. “Number of 50+ Adults Playing Video Games Is Soaring.” WFTS, 9 Jan. 2020, www.abcactionnews.com/news/national/older-adults-becoming-big-business-in-the-video-game-industry.
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AuthorHello my name is Owen Howard. I am a junior currently enrolled at Durham School of the Arts and this blog will document my experiences in this class. Categories
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