Vikki Blake
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Just Cause developer Avalanche has confirmed plans to enter a collective bargaining agreement with Swedish unions.
In a press release, Avalanche said the agreement is planned to go into effect by the second quarter of 2025 – that’s a year from now – and “will apply to all Avalanchers employed in Sweden” in a bid to standardise “frameworks” around employment rights, including salaries, benefits, employee influence, and career support.
“Over the past years, we’ve taken significant steps toward making Avalanche one of the best workplaces in the games industry,” says Stefanía Halldórsdóttir, Avalanche Studios Group’s CEO.
“Our inclusive, warm, and welcoming culture, sound work-life balance, profit sharing, and parental leave policy – just to name a few – are a testament to that. These are all things that set us apart and allow us to focus on making great games. We hope that signing a CBA will be yet another step in that same direction.
“It’s important for us to approach the transition in the right way,” Hallórsdóttir added. “This is why we’re not rushing the implementation of the CBA. We’ll use the coming months to carry out the necessary work in a careful, structured, and non-disruptive manner – all while continuing the development of several new and existing games.”
Between now and when the CBA goes into effect, Avalanche says it will work closely with the Unionen and Engineers of Sweden unions as well as employer organisation Alemga, “to ensure a smooth implementation of the required frameworks”. It’s thought around 100 of the 500-strong team have agreed to unionise.
Avalanche is just one of several studios that have moved to unionise in response to more than 15,000 job cuts and studio closures over the last 18 months, most recently Possibility Space. Studio founder Jeff Strain blamed the closure on confidential leaks by employees.
GamesIndustry.biz’s Chris Dring recently took a closer look at the layoffs for Eurogamer, offering insight into what, exactly, is going on.