UK Video Games Council Faces Criticism from IWGB Game Workers Union Over Exclusion

The Game Workers branch of the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) union has penned an open letter to Labour MPs, denouncing its omission from the newly established UK Video Games Council. Published on July 31, the letter addresses Labour MPs Sir Chris Bryant and Charlotte Nichols, criticizing the exclusion of the union and charitable organizations from the council's membership despite the industry's ongoing crisis, including mass layoffs and unregulated AI outsourcing. The UK Video Games Council, formed in July 2025, aims to support the growth and innovation of the UK video games industry. However, the IWGB Game Workers union has expressed disappointment that 13 of the council's 14 members are employed by companies based in London and the South of England, describing the composition as unrepresentative of game workers nationwide. The letter highlights the absence of trade unions, worker representatives, and grassroots initiatives in the council's composition, contradicting the government's pledges to consult with workers. The union criticizes the inclusion of representatives from groups investing in automated software and AI applications, which may replace human creativity with algorithmic mediocrity and exacerbate the crisis of technological displacement. The IWGB Game Workers union proposes four recommendations for the Video Game Council: improving regional representation, expanding membership to include relevant UK charities, adding an IWGB-nominated member, and publicly addressing the union's concerns. The union's chair, Spring McparlinJones, stated, 'We are incredibly disappointed by the Labour government's decision to seek advice from such a narrow segment of our industry. It's our belief that one of the biggest problems facing our industry today is the rate at which people leave it. In order to fix that problem, you have to be willing to listen to the voice of the workers, a voice that is not yet represented in this council.'