ARTISTS ASSEMBLE

Independent, political and inspiring: could videogame collectives point to an alternative future?

- Lewis Gordon

RSULA K LE GUIN, THE AUTHOR WHO IMAGINED RADICAL UTOPIAS AND DYSTOPIAS IN NOVELS SUCH AS THE DISPOSSESSED, ONCE WROTE, ‘WE’RE EACH OF US ALONE. WHAT CAN YOU DO BUT HOLD YOUR HAND OUT IN THE DARK?’

At various points during the last decade, game makers across the world will have felt the weight of this sentiment. Reports of exploitative working conditions, the industry’s #metoo reckoning, and chastening real-world politics and economics have put individuals under ever-increasing pressure. But grounds for optimism have begun to emerge in the shape of networks of support and organization which look to unite solitary figures. Unionization efforts are one welcome manifestation; so too are worker cooperatives. Arguably less formal but no less important are the collectives – small groups of like-minded people – that are beginning to leave their Le Guin-like mark on the industry.