In the starry shadow of the QSMP project, volunteers under pressure want to assert their rights
It is an inexhaustible flow of evidence. Since March 3, dozens of young Internet users have published their stories behind the scenes of a community project called QSMP, each more deadly than the last. This video game server was launched in March 2023 by Mexican content creator Quequity (23 years old, 6.3 million subscribers on Twitch and many more on YouTube). Minecraft It was designed to allow streamers around the world to participate in a continuous adventure broadcast live on Twitch.
Popular French videographers, such as Antoine Daniel and Baghera Jones, were involved for several months, with countless fans able to follow their characters’ adventures live on Twitch.
At least until that was the case, Quekity and his company Quekity Studio were criticized because the success of their project was built on the backs of young volunteer workers, who today speak of pressure, even harassment. Small hands responsible for translation, IT development, graphics or community management, but who run the server on a daily basis, playing an additional role in the ventures experienced by their favorite content creators. Among them, the young French, since thanked by their managers, have, meanwhile, become close to the Solidaires-Informatique union.
Burn-outs and sleepless nights
For QSMP volunteers, speaking up was not easy. “We were not allowed to communicate with content creators”Testifies on Léa, the first French woman to speak on the subject. The 22-year-old girl was mainly involved in setting up the server MinecraftIts design, writing its description and communication on social networks.
Behind the pseudonyms, the volunteers explain that they had to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), which is used by the studio to prevent its juniors from talking about their working conditions. Workers were also segregated with a formal ban on communicating with each other. “Quakeity Studio administrators asked him for screenshots of his private messages, with threats of sanctions if he refused”Mathis Benguigui, Deputy Secretary of the National Office of Solidaires-Informatique reports.
In a deposition published on March 21, Pomme, in charge of translation and interpreter of secondary character on the server, Explains that after a two-week, unpaid trial period, she is hired as a volunteer, without a written contract, within the QSMP server. His work rate quickly became untenable. “It was really a lot to manage on a daily basis, I noticed that my friends and most of the managers were bordering on burnout if they weren’t already there.she emphasizes. I stopped counting the number of times I was awake for more than twenty-four hours (consecutive). »
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