The Banner Saga composer faces $50,000 fine for his work on the game

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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".

Phil Savage
Phil Savage
Editor-in-Chief

Phil has been writing for PC Gamer for nearly a decade, starting out as a freelance writer covering everything from free games to MMOs. He eventually joined full-time as a news writer, before moving to the magazine to review immersive sims, RPGs and Hitman games. Now he leads PC Gamer's UK team, but still sometimes finds the time to write about his ongoing obsessions with Destiny 2, GTA Online and Apex Legends. When he's not levelling up battle passes, he's checking out the latest tactics game or dipping back into Guild Wars 2. He's largely responsible for the whole Tub Geralt thing, but still isn't sorry.