A leading organiser of a new trade union branch set up to represent games sector workers has been sacked by an award-winning UK games company in what his union claims is an attempt to clamp down on the nascent movement.
Austin Kelmore was working as a senior developer for Ustwo and had been one of the three core developers on Assemble with Care, one of the major game releases this year by its Bafta award-winning studio.
The company, which describes itself as a “fampany” in a nod to a blend of corporate and family values, is known outside of gaming circles as the creator of Monument Valley, whose sales rose after Kevin Spacey’s character was shown playing it in the political drama House of Cards.
Internal emails show executives complained that Kelmore was “spending too much time on diversity programmes” and “always putting leadership figures on the spot”.
Kelmore, who is chair of Games Workers of the UK (GWU), is alleged to have been informed in late September that he would be put on gardening leave and then dismissed. This is alleged to have happened a few weeks after he was asked by a senior manager about his union activity and just after he had invited a group of Ustwo employees to a meeting to discuss rights at work.
It is understood that Kelmore was informed by the company that he was being let go for performance reasons.
The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB), of which the games workers’ union is a branch, has given the company until Friday to reverse the decision before it files legal action.
Kelmore, a US national who came to the UK on a visa for skilled workers, fears that his family’s presence in the country could be put at risk by the termination of his contract.
Jamie Cross, the UK branch secretary of the GWU, said: “Despite Ustwo’s claims of being as much a family as it is a company, it has decided to leave Austin, one of its best developers, completely orphaned.
“Austin and his family are not only left without their main source of income but also unsure if they will have to uproot their whole lives and leave the country in a few weeks. The union will not stand idly by in the face of this unlawful and vicious act and is determined to fight back until this decision is reversed, either voluntarily or through the courts.”
In an internal email from October 2018, the human resources department at Ustwo criticised Kelmore for spending time on “company feedback, diversity schemes and working practices” and said he “puts leadership … on the spot”.
The email continued: “It feels that Austin is a self-appointed bastion of change and sometimes speaks on behalf of others.”
It added: “The studio runs as a collective ‘we’ rather than leadership v employees, which may have been Austin’s experience in the past, but it’s not how things are here.”
Kelmore, who has 12 years’ experience in the industry and previously worked as a developer for the award-winning US games studio PopCap, was one of a number of key programmers on Ustwo’s eagerly anticipated Apple Arcade release Assemble with Care, a narrative puzzle game.
Alex Sobel, a Labour MP and vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on video games, called on Ustwo to reinstate Kelmore.
“Every worker must be allowed the right to be a union member and to organise other workers,” he said. “The issues that are present in the video games industry are sometimes unique and games studios should welcome the organisation of their workforce to engage on these issues.”
A spokesperson for Ustwo said: “Austin Kelmore is currently an employee of Ustwo Games and will be leaving in the near future for reasons unconnected to his membership of a trade union or his undertaking trade union activities. We have other employees who are members of trade unions. To respect Austin’s privacy, it is not appropriate for us to comment further on this matter.
“Ustwo Games has been and will continue to be committed to diversity and inclusivity. We work hard to build a supportive work environment for all our employees.”
