‘Marx at the Arcade’ is a groundbreaking study of not only the politics and history of videogames, but also of their production: of the terrible working conditions that force horrendous hours during the “crunch”, the intensified exploitation made possible by the supposed glamour of many people’s “dream job”, the atomisation and deskilling of the workforce in the search for greater profit. And, crucially, of the growing efforts of workers across the globe in the industry to organise collectively to demand change.

Dr Jamie Woodcock is a researcher at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. He is also the author of Working The Phones (Pluto, 2017), a study of a call centre in the UK. His research focuses on labour, work, the gig economy, platforms, resistance, organising, and videogames. He is on the editorial board of Notes from Below and Historical Materialism.

The book launch will run from 6-7pm, followed by a social event for the "Gaming at the Boundaries" stream at the European Sociological Association (ESA) conference!