The end of the year is a somewhat arbitrary line in the sand, but it's a good moment to take stock of where we stand – stepping back and taking a somewhat wider view than the usual day-to-day, week-to-week rush demands.
Most years, when the time comes to write one last column before the year's end, I look back at last year's final column. Sometimes, that becomes an exercise in seeing how rapidly things have changed; other times, what's striking is how little our discussions about various key issues have moved on. Given the tradition of making some predictions for the coming year, there's also often a side-serving of humble pie in this process.
Last year's final article predicted that unionisation would be one of the biggest stories of 2022 – and while I don't think that claim entirely stacks up, as the announcement of Microsoft's intent to acquire Activision Blizzard in January soon turned attention away from the unionisation efforts that had been ongoing in response to Activision's workplace problems, there's no doubt that unionisation overall remains a live issue in the industry.