{"id":1010999,"date":"2026-01-11T07:47:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T07:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=469173"},"modified":"2026-01-11T07:47:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T07:47:37","slug":"nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA 2K, BioShock motion capture experts, animators, and set builders file to unionize"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Twenty-one workers at 2K Games\u2019 Petaluma, California, motion capture studio filed for a union election on Tuesday<\/a>, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees announced Wednesday in a news release. The group is looking to the National Labor Relations Board to schedule an election after 2K management failed to respond to a request for voluntary recognition.<\/p>\n

Workers at the studio, which is referred to as 2K Mocap, have formed the first public union campaign at a dedicated motion capture studio. They\u2019re looking to address issues with working conditions and pay. \u201cThe unit\u2019s priorities include job security, pay equity that reflects industry standards, wage minimums for new hires, and a clearer definition of job responsibilities,\u201d IATSE wrote in a news release. \u201cThe workers argue that despite recent investments in upgrading the facility, their wages remain below par, making it difficult to maintain long-term careers in the industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The union, if certified, would cover animators, artists, audio specialists, carpenters, stage technicians, and engineers. These workers do motion capture for franchises like NBA 2K, Mafia, BioShock, WWE 2K, and others. Video game motion capture actors are typically represented by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. (Video game actors, including motion capture actors, are currently on strike<\/a>, largely over artificial intelligence protections.) The people who work at 2K Mocap aren\u2019t actors; they do the rest of the work that surrounds the actors: building sets, animating models, capturing motion and audio, and making sure all those little motion capture balls stay on the motion capture suits.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
@bleacherreport<\/a> <\/p>\n

Devin Booker getting his moves captured for 2K (via @NBA 2K) #nba<\/a> #basketball<\/a> #nba2k<\/a> #devinbooker<\/a> #sports<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u266c original sound – bleacherreport<\/a> <\/section>\n<\/blockquote><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cAs creative professionals, we have a tendency to sacrifice and settle for less, because we have an unrelenting passion for what we do and the projects we work on,\u201d 2K Mocap motion capture tools engineer Ryan Kwok said in a statement. \u201cBut we owe it to ourselves and to others in this industry to fight for protections so that we can keep building the games that we and so many others love.\u201d<\/p>\n

2K Games has not responded to Polygon\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n

The proposed union is represented by IATSE, which is an international union that represents entertainment workers who are typically behind the scenes. Its focus has largely been the movie and television industries, but IATSE has recently expanded into the video game industry. In 2023, Workinman Interactive<\/a>, which makes licensed games like Spongebob\u2019s Game Frenzy<\/em> and Fisher Price: Smart Cycle<\/em>, unionized with IATSE. <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twenty-one workers at 2K Games\u2019 Petaluma, California, motion capture studio filed for a union election on Tuesday, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees announced Wednesday in a news release. The group is looking to the National Labor Relations Board to schedule an election after 2K management failed to respond to a request for voluntary recognition. Workers at the studio, which is referred to as 2K Mocap, have formed the first public union campaign at a dedicated motion capture studio. They\u2019re looking to address issues with working conditions and pay. \u201cThe unit\u2019s priorities include job security, pay equity that reflects industry standards, wage minimums for new hires, and a clearer definition of job responsibilities,\u201d IATSE wrote in a news release. \u201cThe workers argue that despite…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1011000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1010999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"\nNBA 2K, BioShock motion capture experts, animators, and set builders file to unionize | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Twenty-one workers at 2K Games\u2019 Petaluma, California, motion capture studio filed for a union election on Tuesday, the International Alliance of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NBA 2K, BioShock motion capture experts, animators, and set builders file to unionize | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Twenty-one workers at 2K Games\u2019 Petaluma, California, motion capture studio filed for a union election on Tuesday, the International Alliance of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-11T07:47:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"270\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"headline\":\"NBA 2K, BioShock motion capture experts, animators, and set builders file to unionize\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-11T07:47:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":438,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Polygon\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\\\/\",\"name\":\"NBA 2K, BioShock motion capture experts, animators, and set builders file to unionize | Arcader News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-11T07:47:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"description\":\"Twenty-one workers at 2K Games\u2019 Petaluma, California, motion capture studio filed for a union election on Tuesday, the International Alliance of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2024\\\/10\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":270,\"caption\":\"NBA 2K, BioShock motion capture experts, animators, and set builders file to unionize\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"NBA 2K, BioShock motion capture experts, animators, and set builders file to unionize\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"description\":\"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arcade News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cricketgames.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/author\\\/arcade-news\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"NBA 2K, BioShock motion capture experts, animators, and set builders file to unionize | Arcader News","description":"Twenty-one workers at 2K Games\u2019 Petaluma, California, motion capture studio filed for a union election on Tuesday, the International Alliance of","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"NBA 2K, BioShock motion capture experts, animators, and set builders file to unionize | Arcader News","og_description":"Twenty-one workers at 2K Games\u2019 Petaluma, California, motion capture studio filed for a union election on Tuesday, the International Alliance of","og_url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/","og_site_name":"Arcade News","article_published_time":"2026-01-11T07:47:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":270,"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Arcade News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arcade News","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/"},"author":{"name":"Arcade News","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"headline":"NBA 2K, BioShock motion capture experts, animators, and set builders file to unionize","datePublished":"2026-01-11T07:47:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/"},"wordCount":438,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize.jpg","articleSection":["Polygon"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/","name":"NBA 2K, BioShock motion capture experts, animators, and set builders file to unionize | Arcader News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize.jpg","datePublished":"2026-01-11T07:47:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"description":"Twenty-one workers at 2K Games\u2019 Petaluma, California, motion capture studio filed for a union election on Tuesday, the International Alliance of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize.jpg","width":480,"height":270,"caption":"NBA 2K, BioShock motion capture experts, animators, and set builders file to unionize"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/nba-2k-bioshock-motion-capture-experts-animators-and-set-builders-file-to-unionize\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"NBA 2K, BioShock motion capture experts, animators, and set builders file to unionize"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/","name":"Arcade News","description":"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839","name":"Arcade News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arcade News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cricketgames.tv"],"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/author\/arcade-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1010999"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1457705,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1010999\/revisions\/1457705"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1011000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1010999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1010999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1010999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}