During the 2025 Games Development Conference this week, industry workers launched the United Videogame Workers union in partnership with the Communication Workers of America. The UVW-CWA is the first direct-join union for developers in the US and Canada, meaning it does not represent a single workplace.

An industry-wide video game workers union launched Wednesday in partnership with Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the American Federation of Musicians (AFM). A direct-join union, United Videogame Workers-CWA Local 9433 was announced during the 2025 Game Developer Conference (GDC) in San Francisco.

As the Trump administration makes major changes to regulatory agencies, "We can no longer expect to rely on traditional legal frameworks to build worker power and to improve workplace conditions," writes one organizer.