Loop Labor
Non-player characters in «GTA V» stand up for their rights: The Mexican field workers, normally stuck in their endless loops, break the game’s patterns and form a union. In «Loop Labor», the significance of non-player characters (NPCs) in computer games is explored by focusing on the Latin American field workers in the videogame «Grand Theft Auto V». What connections can be made between the marginalization of background characters and their real-world counter parts? What is the value of the work performed by these NPCs in computer games? «Loop Labor» examines GTA V in terms of game-inherent mechanics that reproduce real-world power imbalances. «Loop Labor» intervenes in these mechanics through modifications of the game code, so-called modding, to introduce critical interventions into the game world: Labor organization and strike action.
