ARTISTS ASSEMBLE

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 organisation which look to unite solitary figures. Unionisation 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.

Collectives have long been a cornerstone of underground art and music, but in videogames fewer have appeared. Los Angeles’ Glitch City is perhaps the most recognisable, while Sokpop, a Dutch collective formed by four foppish 20-somethings, has found recent success thanks to its burgeoning Patreon subscriber count. These groups surfaced within an independent scene which, depending on who you ask, either grew into increasingly dazzling and varied shapes throughout the 2010s or found itself in trouble. Reports of the so-called ‘indiepocalypse’ rumbled on – the idea that so many games are released on Steam that making a living as an indie developer is near impossible – while widening access to game development tools such as Unity