DEVELOPER STATEMENT
The Why
The games industry is killing its workers instead of empowering their creative expression.
The game development industry is infamous for the unsustainable working conditions of their employees: from unhealthy working schedules, to alarmingly high burnout rates.
We said no to that.
As creatives, we strive to make each minute engaging, dense with personality, and full of memorable interactions.
As professionals, we refuse to sell the mental and physical health of the many to assure the financial gain of the few.
We are not numbers in a column of a quarterly performance review, we are not cogs in a corporate machine.
We are people making games about topics that are immediately relevant to this day and age - and the people that must navigate each day together.
We want to do our part in proving what we already know in our hearts - creativity flourishes when the humans that work to realise a vision together are healthy and happy. Happy people make amazing things.
The digital media industry is ready for a new narrative, and we hope that you choose to become part of that narrative along with us and others like us.
The What
Deep Sky is proudly a worker cooperative.
A cooperative is a type of organisation that is democratically run and jointly owned by its members. Cooperatives are governed by general assembly or worker council, with each member having the equal representation of one vote. Decisions around organisation, hierarchy, work, company laws, and hiring are all made democratically. Membership in the cooperative grants entitlement to dividends from profits made by the enterprise.
Cooperatives value mutual cooperation with other coops and being involved in their local communities.The legal framework around coops is very flexible, and many variations have historically existed, depending on the goals and values of the cooperative. Internationally, cooperatives have a rich and successful history - banks, supermarkets, agriculture, utilities - you name it.
We are specifically a worker cooperative, where the people that work in a place co-own it and benefit directly from the value generated by their labor.
The How
Every story and every effort is a step forward to normalising and popularising more democratic work forms in our wonderful industry.
We have faith in good people.
We are far from alone in this cause.
A number of other worker-owned cooperatives making games already existed in Berlin before us, and more are being founded all over Europe.
If you are interested in founding your own cooperative, want to know more about how cooperatives work or just want to get in touch:
Join our growing network of European Game Worker Cooperatives on our Discord server.
