Ghost of Yōtei star Erika Ishii calls on games industry to treat workers fairly

Ghost of Yotei star Erika Ishii called for the video games industry to respect and treat workers fairly in a powerful speech.

The 38-year-old genderfluid voice actor made the call after accepting the DICE Award for Outstanding Achievement in Character for her performance as Atsu in the 2025 action-adventure game.

After thanking her peers and fellow cast members at Sucker Punch Productions, the developers of the title, Ishii demanded that major video game publishers respect those who work hard to bring these games to life.

“I got into video games because I love video games, and because I wanted to tell the stories that I wanted to play,” they said. “I feel like I’m preaching to the choir here, but now that video games are the most lucrative branch in entertainment, I feel that the people making them deserve recognition, fair pay, and fair treatment.”

The gaming industry has, over the past decade, become the biggest media industry in the world, generating $134.9 billion USD in global sales in 2018 alone.

This was exacerbated following the COVID-19 pandemic, with global video game revenue rising by 20 per cent during that period. In 2020, the gaming industry became bigger than the movie and sporting industries combined.

Ishii said that this explosion in popularity and revenue made it “more important than ever” for industry behemoths to give developers the equitable treatment they deserve.

“If you’re watching this, if you’re like me, please demand that the workers are treated fairly,” they said. “Stories are more important now than ever. So please demand that the people who make them are treated well.”

Between 2022 and 2025, an estimated 45,000 workers in the video game sector were laid off by major video game brands. Many of these layoffs were enacted following the release of certain titles.

In 2025 alone, an estimated 9,175 workers were fired or made redundant, according to GamesIndustry Biz. While this was down from the staggering 15,631 layoffs in 2024, featured editor Lewis Packwood still described the number as “horrendous”.

Amir Satvat, business development director at Tencent Games, predicted at least 7,500 layoffs in 2026, adding that the share of open roles in North American and Western Europe will decrease.

According to survey data from the 2026 State of the Games Industry report, 82 per cent of US-based games developers support unionising. However, just 12 per cent said they are currently part of a union.

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