“A lot of people are saying that it’s time the games industry was unionized,” said Tim Schafer. “They say people who make games are overworked, underpaid, and taken advantage of. What do you think?”

An audience of hundreds of game developers began to awkwardly chortle and groan in response to this question, posed by Schafer at the 2019 Game Developers Choice Awards (GDCA) in San Francisco, California. He continued, “I am not anti-union, but I don’t really think we need ’em, guys. I mean we’re doing fine, right? We’re all great here, and in this show, and no one here is union—oh, God.”

The spotlight on Schafer suddenly went out, leaving him in darkness. The audience laughed, this time heartily. “That’s right, except for the lighting crew, I forgot they’re all union. Okay, you guys-“

Schafer kept speaking, but his words became undistinguishable as his mic was tuned to make him sound like a squeaky cartoon character who’d gobbled up too much helium. More laughs from the audience as Schafer continued speaking, seeming to apologize to the audio people as well. As he continued, the video screen behind him changed from the GDCA logo to a black screen with the words, in all-caps, scrolling by over and over: UNION! UNION! UNION! The audience began to cheer.

Schafer’s mic went back to normal: “I hear you, I hear you, this is a union show, and we’re better for it. Fine, all right? Thank you. Thank you Local 16.

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