Austin Wintory—composer for games Journey and The Banner Saga—is facing a fine of up to $50,000 as a result of his work on Stoic's Viking RPG. According to Wintory, his union, the American Federation of Musicians, have charged him for working on the game's soundtrack with non-union musicians. Earlier this week, Wintory released a video, explaining the charges and setting out what he calls an "untenable situation".
The threat can be traced back to a contract drawn up by the AFM two years ago. That contract—which Wintory says wasn't voted on by AFM members—was universally rejected by game makers. Effectively, AFM members have been blocked from working on games since the contract's introduction.
Coincidentally, in the week since the video, the AFM have announced a new contract , after lengthy negotiations with Microsoft.
In response to the new contract, Wintory tweeted , "there are DEFINITE problems with this contract but if even ONE session emerges from it's a substantial step up from the last 2 years".
