Unions in the gaming industry have become a hot topic lately, with ongoing efforts at Activision Blizzard being a high level battle for workers in an industry that has never really seen a real union movement. Nintendo itself was the matter of many work complaints Last year. And in the midst of it all, hundreds of QA testers from ZeniMax Studios (which includes Bethesda, iD, and Arcane under its umbrella) voted to create ZeniMax Workers United/Communications Workers of America, which is now the largest gaming union. the industry by a wide margin
A group of about 300 QA workers at ZeniMax (Bethesda) voted to form a new union – of particular note that Microsoft recognized the union without a fight, unlike Activision Blizzard, which fought union efforts as much as he could. Next step: contract negotiations pic.twitter.com/vTcAR5q431
—Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) January 3, 2023
In other good news, Microsoft – which acquired ZeniMax in 2021 – immediately recognized the union without resistance, unlike Activision Blizzard and other notorious anti-unionists like Amazon. This is in line with a neutrality agreement Microsoft has with the CWA, stating that they will not participate in union efforts and will accept whatever the workers decide. While big corporations are never the heroes of these stories (that honor belongs to workers standing in solidarity with each other to unite for better terms), it’s always nice to see Microsoft keep its word and recognize the union without a fight. .
From there, the next phase for the ZWU is to negotiate a contract with Microsoft. Hopefully, this record-breaking achievement will embolden more people in the video game industry to stand up for the rights of their workers.
Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
Writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When she’s not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering when Mother 3 will finally get an official localization.
