The French video game union STJV has called for a nationwide strike across "the entire video game sector" on June 25, one month after its previous national walkout on May 27 failed to slow the industry's job losses.

Le Syndicat des Travailleureuses du Jeu Vidéo announced the action, branded "Summer Greve Fest," in a blog post on its official site on June 22. The union is urging "anyone employed by a video game company" to simply not show up to work, and it has broadened the call beyond development studios to workers in game engines, marketing services, streaming, merchandise, esports, online content creation and teaching positions.

"The exceptional disastrous situation in the video games industry calls for an exceptional response," STJV wrote in its statement. "Everything points to the French video game industry being in a critical situation. We refuse to let this situation play out without taking action. One month after our national strike on May 27th, the situation hasn't gotten any better, and even more jobs are under threat."

The union frames the strike as a response to mounting layoffs across the French industry and what it describes as "repeated abuse against workers" by executives who "continue to lounge in their mansions with indoor pools, even if their studios are shut down." STJV has also taken direct aim at "incompetence in project management" across French game development.

The most concrete flashpoint is Quantic Dream. The Detroit: Become Human studio, also known for the upcoming Star Wars Eclipse, is poised to lay off a quarter of its staff following the failure of its live-service MOBA Spellcasters Chronicles, which was removed from Steam less than three months after launch. STJV said in May that roughly 95 workers faced cuts; the union now says the number of affected employees has risen to 115.

STJV has scheduled a picket line outside Quantic Dream's Paris head office on the same day as the strike, tying the sector-wide action directly to the studio's layoff negotiations.

For studios and publishers operating in France, the June 25 walkout presents an operational risk that extends well beyond development teams. By explicitly calling on workers in adjacent functions — engine development, marketing, streaming, esports, merchandise and education — STJV is attempting to pressure the full supply chain around game production, not just the studios making headlines with layoffs.

The timing also matters for Quantic Dream specifically. The studio's Spellcasters Chronicles shutdown in May added another data point to the live-service failure trend that has driven much of the industry's restructuring over the past two years. A studio cutting 115 roles after a three-month live-service experiment faces both the direct cost of severance negotiations and the indirect cost of disrupted pipelines on remaining projects, with Star Wars Eclipse the highest-profile asset at stake.

This is the second national strike STJV has organized in roughly a month, and the escalation in both frequency and scope signals that the union views the May 27 action as insufficient. The jump in projected Quantic Dream job cuts from roughly 95 to 115 between the union's May and June statements suggests the layoff situation is still deteriorating rather than stabilizing.

"We will communicate further details on future actions at a later date," STJV wrote. "Summer has only just begun, and it's going to be hot!"

That language points to a summer of continued labor pressure rather than a single-day protest. Studios with French operations should watch both the turnout on June 25 and the trajectory of Quantic Dream's layoff negotiations, as STJV has signaled more actions are coming and the outcome in Paris could set the template for how the union targets other studios facing cuts.