Workers on Blizzard’s Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble teams have voted to unionize with the Communications Workers of America.
More than 100 software engineers, designers, artists, quality assurance testers and producers voted to join CWA Local 9510 in Irvine, California, joining more than 1,900 other Activision Blizzard employees who also chose to unionize. Parent company Microsoft reportedly recognized the union.
“My colleagues, as individuals, have expressed many concerns over the years, but it is easy for any company to ignore individuals,” said Dominic Calkosz, organizing committee member and game designer. “We have chosen to organize in pursuit of a collective voice and a force of solidarity that the industry cannot ignore.”
The move comes shortly after CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. met with workers at Blizzard’s Irvine campus to “celebrate the growing wave of unionization in the industry,” while unionized Activision Blizzard staff joined the World of Warcraft bargaining committee “for a solidarity march as contract negotiations continued.”
Eurogamer recently spoke to members of Blizzard’s story and franchise development team about their union, discussing their demands of Microsoft.
Earlier this week, EA employees and the Communications Workers of America union issued a statement against the company’s proposed private acquisition, saying they were not represented in negotiations and that any jobs lost as a result would be “a choice, not a necessity, made to line investors’ pockets.” Eurogamer also spoke to Human Rights Watch about this controversial acquisition.
