🚨 Some ~*personal*~ news,🚨 as they say. I’m heading over to Company Town from Metro to cover the video game industry for ! I’ll be reporting on the industry’s growing importance to the business and culture of SoCal. So, what do you want to read?!
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Sarah Parvini (سارا)
@sarahparvini
Video game industry reporter . Turn-based combat fan. Iranian American. “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” (she/her)
Los Angeles, CAJoined August 2011
Sarah Parvini (سارا)’s Tweets
Reposting our story on #Baraye and how a song about Iran’s protests became an anthem for women, freedom and an ordinary life: “It was as if all my cries of my past 30 years were being shouted by Shervin’s voice.” latimes.com/world-nation/s #GRAMMYs
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Let the record show that I have never liked mushrooms. That was validated when I played #TheLastOfUs for the first time, and then cemented now that I'm playing again and watching the show 🍄🙅🏽♀️🚫
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This article is fun and filled with beautiful photos, but also spooky after starting to replay #TheLastOfUs and watching the show
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Exploitation & burnout in the video game industry.
New survey shows 53% of game software developers favor unionization.
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Being a writer is cool because it’s like yes, this is my passion but also I will actively avoid doing it
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ICYMI, and I took a look at unionization and labor organizing efforts in the video game industry. You can also read the piece in print today 🎮 latimes.com/entertainment- #gamedev #labor
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We wrote about the union efforts at video game studios big + small. A recent survey found 53% of game developers support unionization. What’s driving this uptick? Concerns over “crunch” periods, low pay + claims of discrimination/abuse, among other factors latimes.com/entertainment-
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Fascinating reporting from two great additions to our entertainment business team:
, newly covering the business and culture of gaming for us (a massive and vital story)
and , who recently joined to cover platforms & the influencer economy
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We wrote about the union efforts at video game studios big + small. A recent survey found 53% of game developers support unionization. What’s driving this uptick? Concerns over “crunch” periods, low pay + claims of discrimination/abuse, among other factors
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And small studios are not immune to workers’ concerns simply due to their size: “Some of the greatest horror stories I’ve heard from my colleagues in the local game industry are from independent companies.”
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Worth noting that the rise in union interest comes amid a broader rise in pro-union sentiment, including among digital journalists. Industry consolidation has further fueled dissatisfaction at game studios acquired by multinational corporations
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A lot of these organizing efforts surround QA testers. Some I spoke with said that their work is seen as less-than, despite its importance. “There’s a lot of misconceptions that the job that we’re doing is simple and fun and appropriate for a teenager.”
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The widening labor conflict has particular resonance in California, home to more gaming industry companies — over 600 of them — than any other state, according to the Entertainment Software Assn.
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We wrote about the union efforts at video game studios big + small. A recent survey found 53% of game developers support unionization. What’s driving this uptick? Concerns over “crunch” periods, low pay + claims of discrimination/abuse, among other factors
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Why are video game workers seeking to unionize? explain all in this deep dive into the roots of labor unrest in gaming
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"I just absolutely busted my chops to make your game. I stayed up all night ... This isn’t about my personal validation. This is a job.” How ‘crunch’ time and low pay are fueling a union drive among video game workers latimes.com/entertainment-
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Goodbye to KPCC: L.A.’s most popular public radio station is rebranding itself LAist 89.3.
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the last of us writers were like “hey joel needs a car. what if we write the most touching and heartbreaking hour of television in the world”
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me alone at a legacy newspaper trying to cover a $56 billion a year global industry that caters to an audience of 3 billion+ humans and is the dominant arts medium of the 21st century
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Replying to @LauncherWP @winterion and @wapo
Gene Park is a great writer, but I get the impression he's going to be a one man show and has been handed the digital age newspaper adage of "do more with less." Seems a shame.
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Amazon Inks Critical Role to Overall TV and First-Look Film Deal, Greenlights ‘Mighty Nein’ Animated Series
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I'm heartbroken is losing the work from the team at Launcher. Games deserve nuanced and enterprising coverage, and the Launcher staff was constantly churning out outstanding stuff.
This is a huge loss.
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The site and our coverage will not be disappearing immediately, so please keep reading and watching. And if you have fond memories or nice things to say about the work @LauncherWP produced, please share. We could all use those vibes right now.
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please think of my colleagues first and consider a place for them if you can.
as for me: i am staying at the Washington Post. i am moving to the Style section to remain as their games journalist.
this isn’t bitter sweet. it’s bitter. i wish my team was with me. it’s not fair.
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i am so proud to have worked with , , , and .
it’s painful because i missed the last year to be able to work with them more, and today we are closing the video games vertical.
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Today The Washington Post decided to lay off five members of the Launcher team and sunset the site. I’m heartbroken to lose @LeaderGrev, @JhaanElker, @pithyalyse, @Shannon_Liao and @Vahn16 to The Post's layoffs. 
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welp, it's official! I've been laid off from , alongside some of my talented and hard-working colleagues. I'll be looking for work and trying to figure out next steps from here. thank you so much for following along until now
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Still in a state of shock. The "sorry to hear what happened to Launcher!" slack messages starting coming in before my shift was even scheduled to start today, then received that email saying "we have reached out to those employees" affected by layoffs. they had, in fact, not 🙃
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it's official - I've been laid off from , along with many of my hardworking colleagues. still processing everything rn and trying to figure out the next steps, but I'll be looking for work in editing as well as games/online culture journalism
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Since Jan. 1, legions of employees have been put on the chopping block at Amazon (18k layoffs), Microsoft (10k layoffs), Salesforce (8k layoffs) + Google (12k layoffs). The cuts came on the backs of earlier cuts at Meta (11k in Nov) + Snap (1,300 in Aug)
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"Those meetings took their toll. While we are withdrawing our union election petition today & truly hope that mgmt will prioritize the concerns that led us to organize, I still believe that a union is the best way for workers in our industry to ensure our voices are being heard."
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In a statement emailed today, a member of the Proletariat Workers Alliance said: "Our CEO responded by holding meetings which framed the conversation as a personal betrayal, instead respecting our right to join together to protect ourselves & have a seat at the table"
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Workers at Proletariat asked management to voluntarily recognize a union in December (it would have been the third under Activision Blizzard)
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We are excited to announce that the workers of Proletariat have asked management to voluntarily recognize our union, the Proletariat Workers Alliance. 1/14
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read image description
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Inbox: CWA has withdrawn its request for a representation election at Activision Blizzard’s Proletariat studio
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i loved seeing Joel in the show with a goofy smile as he watched the movie. for fans of these characters, the show feels expansive and rewarding. we get to see little things we wish the games had time to cover
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#TheLastOfUs “raised moral quandaries about choice, or the lack thereof, in interactive entertainment, questioned masculinity in games + ultimately proved to the industry that a gay teenage girl could be a protagonist in a genre overrun w/ tired machismo”
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Can confirm as a San Diego-an
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“Explain the Chargers to me.”
“Well, imagine a Choose Your Own Adventure book but no matter what choice you make you die.”
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Some ~*personal*~ news, as they say. I’m heading over to Company Town from Metro to cover the video game industry for @latimes! I’ll be reporting on the industry’s growing importance to the business and culture of SoCal. So, what do you want to read?! latimes.com/about/pressrelShow this thread
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Congratulations to member (and 🙌) in their new roles! Sarah will be covering the video game industry for 🕹️📺🎮 #AAPIatLAT
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Some ~*personal*~ news, as they say. I’m heading over to Company Town from Metro to cover the video game industry for @latimes! I’ll be reporting on the industry’s growing importance to the business and culture of SoCal. So, what do you want to read?! latimes.com/about/pressrelShow this thread
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Who are some video game industry experts I should be reaching out to?
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Some ~*personal*~ news, as they say. I’m heading over to Company Town from Metro to cover the video game industry for @latimes! I’ll be reporting on the industry’s growing importance to the business and culture of SoCal. So, what do you want to read?! latimes.com/about/pressrelShow this thread
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