The last of us Debuted on HBO a few days ago, giving a new audience a chance to experience the story that was first told in the PlayStation 3 games. As for the writers Neil Druckman closely related to the creation of the show, the same cannot be said of Bruce Straley. Straley was a director on the PS3 game alongside Druckmann, and played an important role in building its world. Despite the importance of his role, Straley was left uncredited for the new HBO series. Talk to the Los Angeles TimesStraley said that this moment shows the importance of corporations in the video industry.
“It’s an argument for integration that someone who was part of the co-creation of that world and those people don’t get a credit or a nickel for the work they put in,” he said. Straley told the Los Angeles Times. “Maybe we need unions in the video game industry to protect the creators.”
A greater focus has been placed on the corporation in the video game industry in the past few years. May ago, employees at Activision Blizzard voted in favor of becoming only the second video game union in North America, such as the Game Workers Alliance. Efforts to unionize began in 2021, after workers said 14-hour days produced some of the most successful games in the industry. The vote came after Activision Blizzard reportedly refused to recognize the union.
Straley left Naughty Dog in 2017, and founded Wildflower Interactive last year. It is impossible to say whether a union will be able to successfully obtain Straley’s debt The last of us, but it is easy to see how this situation can be problematic. For one thing, the series seems to be a huge success story for HBO, but Straley’s name is nowhere to be found. With eight episodes left, hopefully the sequel can right that wrong.
Do you think the video game industry needs more organization? Want to see Straley featured on the show? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about all things sports!
(H/T: my city)