Update (10/24/24): A spokesperson for 2K released a statement saying the studio “fully respects the right of those employees to choose through informed voting whether they decide to be represented by IATSE.”
“We know the needs of our workforce are diverse, and that our industry faces new challenges as we continue to evolve and grow,” it continues. “We feel that we are best served addressing these challenges and changing needs together through our existing feedback channels rather than through a union.”
“That said, we understand perspectives may vary on this issue, and, in keeping with our values, we welcome sharing opinions and engaging in the dialogue that the next several weeks may bring.”
Original story: For the first time, motion capture workers in the game industry are unionizing.
Through IATSE, 21 full-time employees at 2K’s Petaluma, CA studio, which handles mocap for its sports, XCOM, and BioShock franchises, called for voluntary recognition by management at Take-Two. The staff also filed for a union election to be held at a later date.
Unionization has been growing in the game industry for the last several years. But most of those efforts centered on QA staff, and not mocap specifically, despite performance capture’s key role in game development for over a decade.
The changes 2K’s mocap team are seeking include job security and pay equity that matches industry standards, along with wage minimums for new hires. They told Variety their wages are still below par, even as money has gone into upgrading their facility.
In a statement on the IATSE official website, scene fabricator Cameron Boyce said, “Management has failed repeatedly to hear our voices when issues arise, which made us feel unheard and ultimately undervalued, and in management’s eyes, expendable.”
Stage technician Connor Bredbeck added the team’s “inequities are endemic to the gaming industry and detract from the work we are all so passionate about. Our love for the work we do that has not only allowed us to organize, but is also the reason we are organizing in the first place.”
“These dedicated individuals are essential to the success of the world-class video games their labor helps create,” said IATSE’s international VP Michael F. Miller, who said motion capture “significantly overlaps” with work inside IATSE’s orbit.
“[We] stand firmly with the 2K MoCap workers and Video Game workers in general in their pursuit of the same rights and protections union members have around the entertainment industry,” he continued. “We look forward to the election and eventually good faith negotiations with Take-Two Interactive to honor their workers’ voices and engage in good faith negotiations.”