A Glimpse into a Dystopian Future: The Last Worker's Scathing Critique of the Games Industry

The Last Worker, a thought-provoking game from developers Oiffy and Wolf & Wood, presents a dystopian vision of the future of capitalism, unapologetically wearing its political leanings on its sleeve. The game tackles the consequences of workplace automation, corporate layoffs, and climate change, while also critiquing a culture driven by disposable content. At its core, The Last Worker is concerned with the theme of end-stage capitalism, a concept that director Jörg Tittel acknowledges may be divisive, but one that he hopes will encourage discussion and a shift in attitudes among players. The game follows the story of Kurt, the last human worker at Jüngle, a futuristic parody of Amazon, as he navigates a world where humans have been replaced by robots. Tittel's inspiration for the game dates back to 2014, when he witnessed the automation of a supermarket checkout in central London, where employees had been replaced by self-checkout tills. He notes that the advent of AI-driven technologies has forced the issue of computers replacing human workers back into the forefront of everyone's minds. Tittel applies his sceptical attitude towards the tech industry, criticizing leaders such as Elon Musk for their 'comic book nerd complex' and their tendency to reduce everything to nothing. He argues that the games industry has become too aligned with tech, and that it needs to recognize its unique value as a medium that brings human expression into one cohesive form. Tittel hopes that The Last Worker will help to rectify the issue of games rarely being discussed around the dinner table, and that it will encourage the industry to move away from creating 'content' that is devoid of meaning. He points to the example of Vampire Survivors, a game that he believes is a distillation of what games can be and should be, as a beacon of hope for the future of the industry. Ultimately, Tittel hopes that The Last Worker will inspire players and the industry to reject automation, not just in a literal sense, but also in a creative sense, and to strive for originality and human touch in game development.