Game news This new law could revolutionize the work of American developers
Published on 06/01/2023 at 08:01
If the United States of America is one of the most popular countries for video games, you should know that it is also home to some rules that come into play against developers. A new bill could change everything and dramatically increase their income.
A problematic rule
The United States is a country that differs from ours in many ways and the law related world of employment stands in particular contrast. One point in particular is unfortunate for many employees: non-competition clauses. Thus, when a person is hired under a contract within a company, he is often required to sign such a clause, which simply prevents him… from working for a competing company or creating a similar firm for a certain period of time after he leaves the company.
This period can last several months, between three and six months, and this therefore applies in the video game industry. A developer who joins a studio may therefore be required to sign a non-competition clause, preventing him from looking elsewhere even if he is no longer employed: it is easy to imagine the enormous loss for the people concerned, or even for other organizations.
Bungie, studio based in Seattle in the United States
A law that could change everything
It is therefore the famous FTC (for “Federal Trade Commission”) which proposed a new law aimed at purely and simply prohibiting the practice of non-competition clauses for all workers in the United States. She estimates that if such a rule were adopted, the income of American employees would increase between 250 and 296 billion per year!
The US Federal Trade Commission
About one in five American workers – about 30 million people – are bound by a non-compete clause and are therefore prevented from seeking better job opportunities. (…) The FTC proposes to prevent employers from entering into non-competition clauses with workers and to require employers to repeal existing non-competition clauses.
To return to the case of video games, it goes without saying that this unprecedented law could greatly boost the national market. It also seems good to remember that in California – where many entities such as Activision-Blizzard, Santa Monica, Obsidian, Riot Games, etc. are based – non-competition clauses no longer exist since they were repealed by the Californian state in 1872.
Obviously, the rest of the USA is still concerned, in which reside dozens and dozens of important companies in the video game sector. Case to follow.
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