We were aware of the written question from Danielle Simonnet, a french member of parliament for Paris’ 15th district, and were happy that the government would have to give an official position on the current crisis, since our industry and its workers are not often a focus for politician. However, we were not expecting a lobbying organization to pull the rug from under the Industry Ministry and answer this question before him.

It appears that publicly asking about the Crédit d’Impôt Jeu Vidéo (or CIJV, a tax credit which allows french video game companies to write off up to 30% of their production expenses) is enough for our bosses to throw a tantrum. This is definitely a sign that said bosses are relaxed and have nothing to hide. If we had to guess, we could assume that the SNJV is trying to force its own rhetoric, however shallow they are, on the government.

Butler, there is some “politics” in my velouté

First, the lobby tries once again to put everyone to sleep with a tear-jerking tall story about a “global crisis we are unable to counter” (if only unions and workers had warned companies and offered solutions! /s). Then, the SNJV goes at war with what they consider a new threat to our industry: elected members of parliament who dare to exercise their right to free speech and, even worse, appear to have political opinions.

We already knew that bosses hate democracy inside their company, from first-hand experience. By choosing to attack a French République elected representative, they tell the whole world that they hate it outside of companies too. It seems like there is a pattern here.

The SNJV is actively lobbying elected representatives, for instance by blocking a law trying to improve gender parity inside video game studios, but is also complaining when one such representative is actually interested in video game production in France. It wants its cake and eat it too, but it also wants the bakery, the baker and the farm.

Unbothered by self-contradiction, bosses explain we must avoid looking for scapegoats, while at the same time saying that “some worker unions” should not be included in talks about the industry’s funding. It is about time that this organization stops being so full of itself and finally accepts that the video game industry is one of the most unionized private sectors in France, and that the STJV is by far the sector’s biggest union thanks to its member count, its omnipresence at video game companies and its ability to mobilize video game workers.

It is not possible anymore to ignore video game worker representatives, and this is what the SNJV should “acknowledge”. In time, workers’ self-organization will outshine their bosses, and will send its pathetic representatives back where they belong: into the dustbin of history.

Being a boss is doing the exact same fucking thing over and over again, expecting shit to change

Have no fear, the SNJV has a solution to the ongoing crisis: less regulation! Sticking to its policy, unchanged since its creation, this lobby finds yet another excuse to whine about how the CIJV should be “modernized”. This is obviously doublespeak meaning that companies would like the CIJV to have less rules and be awarded freely.

It argues that this tax credit hasn’t changed for the last 10 years. Perhaps the SNJV didn’t read the same SNJV’s press releases, as it frequently congratulates itself for having changed the CIJV, including in 2022 (less than 4 years ago, for those bosses who struggle with math).

The precedent deregulations didn’t save our industry, and barely benefited the small studios the SNJV claims to defend. So, naturally, we are offered even more deregulation. As if it would work this time.

The SNJV reminds us that companies must abide by the law to claim the CIJV. This might be the only true statement in their press release. As workers, we can testify that, in reality, companies use and abuse the CIJV’s grey areas and the complete lack of control of its law-abiding requirements.

Our many and frequent victories against companies in the labour and judicial courts, including against companies headed by members of the SNJV’s administration, can testify to that. However, these judgements never have any consequence on the CIJV’s awarding.

Since the SNJV invokes social dialogue, we want to offer them the possibility to show it speaks in good faith. As such, we ask it to help us enforce the law inside its member companies. We have no doubt that, driven by its adhesion to the French République and its labor laws, it will accept our outstretched hand.

Give me money or give me death

Executives’ greed when it comes to public subsidies could be a tired cliché, but it is sadly the truth. Their lobbies have limited vocabulary, as they almost only talk about public funding going to companies.

As usual, video game bosses cling to their conservative stance: nothing must change in the video game industry, except the number on their government check.

However, it is not surprising to see a business lobby limiting itself to gathering money, since video game bosses apparently do not know how to do anything else, and certainly not how to manage a video game production.

If our bosses had spent as much energy on managing their companies and improving working conditions as they have done picking the state’s pockets, our industry would be flourishing instead of tumbling down like a house of cards.

While workers are researching and suggesting solutions to actually make video games and get payed a living wage doing so, their bosses are simply offering to keep accelerating on the road to disaster (only with more cash in their trunk).

We can only rely on ourselves. We must therefore fight to keep making video games despite our executives.