Sega of America Workers Approve Union Vote

A National Labor Relations Board election has been passed by workers at Sega of America, who voted in favor of forming a union. According to reporting from Axios’ Stephen Totilo, there were about 200 eligible to vote, with 91 voting in favor, and 26 against. Plans were announced by the group back in April, which they named the Allied Employees Guild Improving Sega (AEGIS-CWA). At the time, management at Sega of America had declined to voluntarily recognize the union. In a statement from April, Sega QA lead Mohammad Saman talked about the potential improvements for employees.

“By creating our union, AEGIA-CWA, we’ll have a say in the decisions that shape our working conditions and ensure the job security and working conditions that we deserve,” Saman said in a statement provided to Axios.

Unionization efforts have started to ramp up around the video game industry over the last few years. In May 2022, employees at Activision Blizzard’s Raven Software voted in favor of becoming North America’s second video game union. Like Sega, Activision Blizzard declined to voluntarily recognize the union, prompting an official vote. At the time, the Game Workers Alliance cited concerns over 14-hour work days, low pay, and VR testing sessions that lasted 7-8 hours long, which go against medical recommendations. AEGIS-CWA members similarly cited demands for better pay and benefits, as well as efforts to “end patterns of overwork.”

Developer crunch is one of the video game industry’s worst-kept secrets, as employees are often forced to work long hours in order to get games out by release date. While there is greater awareness of the issue than there has been in the past, it continues to be a major concern. AEGIS-CWA is made up of workers in several different departments, including testing, localization, and marketing. Hopefully these unionization efforts will lead to better overall conditions for employees, and the types of changes desperately needed in video game development.

Are you surprised that Sega of America voted in favor of unionization? Do you think that there needs to be greater efforts to combat crunch in the video game industry? Letusknowin thecommentsor share yourthoughts directly onTwitterat @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!