Trade union activity in the UK video games industry has grown rapidly in recent years, driven largely by the IWGB Game Workers Union. Unlike some other creative sectors, most studios do not currently operate under any formal recognition or collective bargaining agreement with a union. A small but growing number however are now having to tackle union approaches and considerations.
From 30 October 2026, a new legal regime will come into force. The Employment Rights Act 2025 (“ERA 2025“) introduces a new statutory framework under which an independent trade union can formally request access to a workplace and/or communication with workers for the purposes of meeting, supporting, representing, recruiting or organising workers, or facilitating collective bargaining. Importantly this does not include organising industrial action.
The new right is not limited to unions that are formally recognised by an employer and does not require the union to demonstrate a particular level of membership or workforce support. This is particularly relevant to the video games sector, where most studios do not formally recognise a union but may nonetheless employ or engage staff who are members of a union. This can include developers, artists, QA testers and other staff, irrespective of whether they work at the office or remotely, or on a freelance or contract basis.
The new regime will almost certainly increase union interaction for studios and it’s crucial studios consider how they will respond if a union seeks to use the new statutory process.
Navigation
What happens when a union makes a statutory request?
What does this mean for video games studios?
Does this mean unions can simply turn up at the studio?
What should video games businesses be doing now?
What is changing?
Statutory trade union access
At a glance
From: 30 October 2026 (subject to parliamentary approval)
Who can request it? Independent trade unions including Equity and BECTU
Who is in scope? Production companies with 21 or more workers in total across all locations, subject to the statutory framework
What can be requested? Physical and/or digital access
Why? To meet, support, represent, recruit or organise workers, or facilitate collective bargaining
Employer response: 15 working days
Negotiation: 25 working days
If no agreement: Central Arbitration Committee (“CAC”) can determine access and its terms
Breaches: escalating penalties starting at £75,000 for a first breach, £150,000 for a second breach, and potentially up to £500,000 for repeated breaches.
Historically, there has been no general statutory right for a trade union to enter an employer’s workplace simply to meet, recruit or organise workers. Access has generally depended on the employer voluntarily agreeing access with a union, existing collective bargaining arrangements or the application of specific statutory provisions.
The ERA 2025 changes that.
From 30 October 2026, an independent trade union will be able to make a formal request for physical access, digital access or a combination of the two. The purposes of access can include meeting, supporting, representing, recruiting or organising workers and facilitating collective bargaining, although the new right does not extend to organising industrial action. Therefore, whilst the new rules should not be directly relevant to any proposed industrial action, in practice they are likely, in a general sense, to help unions such as the IWGB better identify and communicate with members across a studio’s workforce, including where teams are distributed across multiple sites or working remotely. This, in turn, means it is easier for unions (should they wish) to comply with statutory balloting requirements in the event of industrial action being threatened.
Importantly, the union does not need to be formally recognised by the employer for collective bargaining purposes to make an access request. There is also no general requirement for the union to demonstrate that it already has significant membership among the relevant workforce, although in such circumstances an employer may reasonably refuse access if the union lacks a legitimate purpose for the request, given the potential cost and disruption this would cause.
This means that the new regime potentially gives unions a route into workplaces where there has previously been little or no union presence.
What happens when a union makes a statutory request?
The process is structured and the timescales are fairly short. In broad terms:
The request must contain specified information, including details of the workers to whom it relates, the type and purpose of access sought, proposed arrangements, etc (the government will soon publish a template form). The union must also give at least 5 working days’ notice before they would like to access a workplace.
The employer can accept, reject or partially accept the request, but any rejection or partial rejection must be explained. When the union and employer successfully negotiate access terms, they must jointly notify the CAC who will keep a record of the agreement.
If the request is not accepted in full, the parties are expected to negotiate in good faith to try to agree the terms of access.
If the parties cannot agree, either side can refer the matter to the Central Arbitration Committee (“CAC“), which is an independent statutory body that resolves collective workplace disputes in the UK. The CAC can determine whether access should be granted and, if so, on what terms. The statutory framework is designed to balance the union’s right to access with the employer’s need to avoid unreasonable interference with its business.
The CAC-imposed arrangements will generally last for no more than two years, although the arrangements can be revisited. The CAC also have the power to issue fines of between £75,000 to £500,000 for non-compliance.
The CAC will record every statutory access agreement, whether agreed by negotiation or imposed. Unions and employers are however strongly encouraged to continue agreeing voluntary access arrangements outside the statutory framework altogether.
What does this mean for video games studios?
Unlike some other creative sectors, most video games businesses do not currently have established access arrangements with trade unions. These businesses will therefore likely need to consider the new statutory regime from a standing start. Given the backdrop of an industry that is consistently seeing increased union activity, it’s even more important that games studios appropriately plan for the upcoming new rules.
Studios facing a request are likely to have two questions front of mind:
- What does the request require us to do and provide?
- How do we manage access without unnecessarily disrupting development or live-service operations?
That last point is particularly important in an industry where the concept of a “workplace” can for some studios look very different from a conventional office set-up, given the prevalence of remote and hybrid working across some games development teams.
A studio’s workforce may be spread across multiple sites, working from home, or engaged as freelance or contract staff who rarely, if ever, attend a physical office. A digital access arrangement may therefore be more relevant and appropriate for certain games businesses, especially where physical access is impractical, and could include facilitation of email contact, webinars or online meetings. The studio must be prepared to facilitate digital access using its existing IT systems and importantly must not track whether workers join online meetings or interact with digital messages sent on the union’s behalf.
Given the tight development schedules, live-service demands and budget pressures many studios operate under, there is potential for the practical impact of ERA 2025 to be keenly felt in the video games industry.
Does this mean unions can simply turn up at the studio?
No. The new regime does not provide an unrestricted right for union officials to arrive at a studio whenever they choose.
Access arrangements are intended to be agreed between the union and employer, and the statutory framework gives the employer an opportunity to respond and negotiate appropriate terms. The legislation also expressly requires access to operate in a way that does not unreasonably interfere with the employer’s business, while requiring employers to take reasonable steps to facilitate access.
That should provide some important protection for studios where an unplanned visit could interfere with development milestones or live-service releases, or create genuine operational or confidentiality concerns – for example, around unreleased or commercially sensitive game content.
However, studios should not assume that they can simply refuse access because it is inconvenient. The starting point of the new framework is that access should generally be facilitated unless refusal is reasonable in all the circumstances. Additionally, where a trade union meeting takes place during working hours as part of an access arrangement, workers who attend must be paid in full for that time.
What should video games businesses be doing now?
With the new regime set to come into force on 30 October 2026, productions should be considering the practical implications now. We would recommend the following:
Review any recent activity and contact you may have had with a union and consider whether you have already agreed anything that may be relevant in the context of a formal access request.
A request will trigger a relatively short statutory timetable. Studios should identify who will take ownership of any request and who needs to be involved in responding to it.
Consider in advance where and when union representatives could realistically meet staff to minimise disruption, particularly given remote and hybrid working patterns. Digital access may provide a useful alternative or supplement to physical visits for many studios.
Anyone involved in studio management, HR or employee relations should understand that an access request cannot simply be treated as an ordinary visitor request. The statutory process and timescales need to be followed carefully.
The new access rights form part of a much wider package of changes to employment and trade union laws under the ERA 2025. Even studios which have historically had little direct trade union involvement should consider how they would respond if union activity increases – a live prospect given recent recognition campaigns across the industry.
A new landscape for the industry
The new statutory right of trade union access represents a meaningful change to the UK’s industrial relations landscape.
For video games businesses, it does not mean that trade unions will suddenly have unrestricted access to every studio.
What it does mean is that union access is becoming a statutory right which qualifying unions can seek to exercise even where there is no existing recognition or voluntary access arrangement.
Given the way many games studios operate – often with distributed, remote and freelance workforces, and highly confidential unreleased content – that could have some very practical consequences. Studios will need to think not just about whether access should be granted, but how it can be accommodated in a way that respects the new statutory framework while protecting the practical and commercial requirements of game development.
With the wider reforms that have come into force (or will shortly be coming into force) under the ERA 2025, employment and trade union law is likely to become increasingly important for video games businesses over the coming months.
Our employment and immigration lawyers will continue to track developments closely and we will issue further updates as implementation plans are announced. In the meantime, we’d be happy to discuss any of the above in more detail and our specialists are here to help if you have any questions, so please do get in touch.
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