The developer behind the upcoming Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown and past titles in the WRC series has confirmed it's joining GreedFall studio Spiders in a strike against their publisher, Nacon. Citing similar issues with the company, the studio said it's "expressing our solidarity with our colleagues at Spiders and are calling for a strike on September 2nd".
44 of the 95 employees at the firm signed a Spiders Action Committee letter, alleging Nacon of a poor gender pay gap, mismanagement, low wages, high employee turnover, and a refusal to acknowledge collective action. Kylotonn will now join Spiders in the strike — taking place today — stating: "Both studios are property of the Nacon group and encounter similar problems such as: hiring, turn over, a general lack of information about the future of our companies and the productions."
Its statement continues: "Management regularly brings up the studios’ supposed independence, but every demand we make gets rejected with the argument that there should be coherence within the Nacon group. Much in the same way, negotiations are hampered under the same pretense. If no improvement in our working conditions is offered because 'it would drive other studios within the group to ask for the same', it stands to reason then that we make those demands together." Spiders will have a picket line outside its Paris office today and tomorrow, with Kylotonn now joining.
It concludes: "We thank the respective management of our studios for raising awareness of the group’s importance, and are now working on consolidating it. This is why, as workers at Kylotonn, we are expressing our solidarity with our colleagues at Spiders and are calling for a strike on September 2nd!" Last week, Nacon called the accusations made against it "false and even defamatory", and "in no way reflect the reality of the day-to-day working life of the company’s employees". It's unclear whether this will have any impact on the release of Test Drive Unlimited: Solar Crown, which is currently scheduled to release on 12th September 2024.
[source stjv.fr]
Comments 17
Any jobs that work with computers are generally screwed tbh. Time to get re-skilled up people. I’m thinking of starting a company for training Mig welders in Staffordshire. Wages for welding skills are about to go through the roof!. Keep a look out for it if you are in the UK and need something new. Good luck all
@Mikey856 why do you say this? Because of AI? If so, AI can replace fairly wrote actions for sure but for jobs that still require strategy and planning through use of computers… or jobs that deal with confidential information, AI cannot remotely replace the worker.
In a side note welding seems super cool and I love seeing a good welding job. Went down a rabbit hole online once watching people weld 🤣
Good. Worker solidarity is important to put pressure on the pigs that still hold us down.
@Mikey856 What makes you say welder's wages are about to go up? I recently quit my chef job and need to retrain, welding might be an idea
@nessisonett specifically which pigs are holding you down?
Not surprising, look how each kt wrc game has launched with limited optimization, bug fixes, pressure to launch and move on to next project.
@SlipperyFish well due to Brexit in the UK companies are finding it much more difficult to get cheap labour from abroad and are having to put wages up quite substantially to attract British workers. Welding wages in my area alone have increased by 40-70%. Welders were I currently work are being paid 53k before tax on 4on4off patterns. I’ve been in the trade 24 years and well versed in what it takes to earn this coin. If you are local to Staffordshire look for welding opportunities around here plus keep an eye open for welder training. Coming your way soon
@IamJT to get to coded levels it’s not easy and takes a lot of practice but the money available to welders not just in the UK but around the world is serious 👌
@Mikey856 I'm all the way down in Suffolk, I've seen a fair bit of welding/fab pop up but never really looked into it
From what I've been reading about the Test Drive on forums across a few sites it's not that good and the always online really has not helped after The Crew fiasco. Then there's the prices for the different versions coming out I enjoyed Test Drive Unlimited on Xbox 360 in fact I'm trying to find a copy to play it again but I won't be getting the new one
Perhaps they could give some actual examples of these issues...
@d0x360 and what will you do with them?
@Mikey856 How long would it take a complete novice to get to a reasonable level at welding? It's difficult when you have a family to support. I'm just doing bog standard production work for aircrafts and the money is crap
I’m confused about the accusation. It seems to be they are getting low pay, but surely they agreed to take the job at a certain salary level. Gender pay gap? We’ll need more details. Often differences in jobs, and even work hours, are ignored to make that headline “accurate”. Lack of information about the future plans of the company - leaks are a thing. Not recognising collective action…what action was that? Are we only getting half the story? High employee turnover. Is this that people are being let go due to projects finishing? Deciding to leave themselves?
No good accusations have been proven, or perhaps even made, from what I read. Surely there is more to it all though.
@messimagician I’d say it took me about 5-7 years to become a truly competent welder and able to pass codings for the big coin. Some people will be quicker and some people slower. But even the slightest experience goes a long way mate. Do you Tig weld I take it? Tig seems to be the weld of choice for the aircraft industries
@Mikey856 Haha no mate, I've never welded in my life. I do light aircraft ducting for Boeing and others which we make up using a mesh material and liquid plastic from plaster moulds. Its very boring but easy, the money isn't great. I was just curious how long it would take to learn welding after your comment about the money you can earn but when you have a family to support it's difficult to re skill
@messimagician yeah I get you totally mate. I was in a similar position years ago with kids etc but even just picking an old mig set up off eBay and practicing at night after work will help. The money for welders is only going in one direction now so better starting soon rather than later. You might just catch it in time. Best of luck mate 👌
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