Blizzard's World of Warcraft Team Votes to Unionize - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 August 2024 / 2,447 Views
The World of Warcraft development team at Blizzard Entertainment has voted to unionize.
Over 500 developers working on World of Warcraft have joined the Communications Workers of America (CWA) as the World of Warcraft Game Makers Guild - CWA Union (WoWGG-CWA). Microsoft and Blizzard have recognized the union.
"What we’ve accomplished at World of Warcraft is just the beginning," said test analyst and member of the World of Warcraft Gamemakers Guild Eric Lanham. "My colleagues and I are embarking on a quest to secure better pay, benefits, and job security through a strong union contract.
"We know that when workers have a protected voice, it’s a win-win for employee standards, the studio, and World of Warcraft fans looking for the best gaming experience. Through our union, we’re ready to tank any obstacles, heal any wounds, and DPS through the challenges ahead. Together, we will ensure a full tier set bonus with the inclusion of all job titles in the same union. Like the legendary heroes of Azeroth, our union is forged in the fires of perseverance and resilience, and together, we will stand strong as the Alliance and the Horde to ensure a bright future for all."
Senior Director of Organizing at CWA Tom Smith added, "The decision by workers on World of Warcraft to form a union marks a key inflection point in the broader movement for video game worker organizing industry-wide.
"This victory, built on years of foundation work since the launch of the Game Workers Unite movement at GDC, reflects a deeply rooted commitment to change. Unionizing one of the most successful games ever signifies the rising power of worker solidarity across the industry, from AAA studios like SEGA and Bethesda to indie developers.
"What seemed impossible six years ago is now a reality, and this is just the beginning. Together, workers are redefining their industry. Up until now, my proudest WoW moment was successfully main-tanking RoS as a prot warrior, stance-dancing with no off-tank back during TBC. But what these amazing workers have done today leaves that in the dust."
A Microsoft spokesperson told Variety, "We continue to support our employees’ right to choose how they are represented in the workplace, and we will engage in good faith negotiations with the CWA as we work towards a collective bargaining agreement."
Employees at Bethesda Game Studios, the studio best known for The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Starfield, last week voted to unionize with the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
241 employees, including "artists, engineers, programmers and designers." have signed a union authorization cards or have shown the desire to unionize.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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For those wondering Microsoft came out a year or 2 ago saying they are fine with their employees forming unions and they will recognize them all.
So another MS team is unionizing. Is this a reaction to the latest Microsoft studio closures? Because if every big studio MS owns starts unionizing, it's going to put Microsoft in a very akward spot.
Unionizing really only helps with internal staff treatment. It won't stop a company from shutting a none profitable studio down.
It complicates things like that. Typically a CBA is going to contain some significant severance provisions. So it makes it more expensive to shut a studio down.
The best thing they can do is help those currently working to find other work or internal transferring which most buisnesses salvage the best staff during closures anyway.
Unions are more on fair pay and fair treatment.
A buisness will still operate for profits and if a buisness does not satisfy the needs, the decisions will still remain at the corporate table.
No. Agreements between the labor unions and businesses almost always contain provisions regarding severance that disincentivize the company from closing, laying off, or otherwise reducing their Union workforce.
Laying off staff yes, Studio Closure no. No one has the right to tell a business to keep a nonprofitable business open. Who pays for it if the company is bleeding? You can't force shareholders and investors to invest into it.
Those were in talk before becoming a Microsoft studio. So not it is not a "response" to a studio closure (esp. knowing that Unions cannot prevent that and knowing that all); Microsoft actually said that they would be okay with it and support it (probably to gain favors of the FTC, etc but still said it way before) and the CWA was supporting them. This is not a surprise at all at this point.
The expected is still welcome.
Union or not makes no difference when it comes to downsizing.
Good. :) Better workplace environment = Better games, happier employees, and greater long-term profits for the business.
This comment seems to be ignorant of the history of companies with unionized workers. In nearly all cases, they are out-competed by non-union companies. Profits typically suffer significantly, relative to their non-union competitors
"In nearly all cases, they are out-competed by non-union companies." Could you please be a little more precise? This reads too broad. Are you saying that unionization corresponds with businesses getting struck with bankruptcy? Or are you simply stating that success correlates with non-unionized work space?
"Profits typically suffer signfiicantly" Long-term profits suffer? Or short-term profits? These are two different things. I will provide some resources which back my argument. I would like to hear your objections.
Please read from these resources and give your thoughts...
(i) https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/history/reich/reports/dunlop/section4. This report discusses how unions can contribute to increased productivity and quality, which could indirectly support long-term profitability.
(ii) https://www.epi.org/publication/how-todays-unions-help-working-people/. Though not directly addressing long-term profits, this source discusses how unions can lead to higher wages and better working conditions, which may contribute to a more stable and productive workforce.
(iii) https://www.ilo.org/global/topics/collective-bargaining-labour-relations/WCMS_244431/lang--en/index.htm. This source discusses how collective bargaining can lead to improved workplace relations and productivity, which could potentially support long-term profitability.
(iv) https://tcf.org/content/report/how-unions-work-for-the-economy/. This report highlights various economic benefits of unions, including increased productivity and reduced income inequality, which could indirectly support long-term economic stability.
(v) https://home.treasury.gov/news/featured-stories/labor-unions-and-the-us-economy. (Just read the source lol. Not looking to give another summary.)
Excellent source! Congratulations on supporting your arguments with primary sources.
In another article I discussed the origin of sources, because data taken from social networks or from journalists who estimate information cannot be taken seriously, as it is often information that does not convey the whole truth.
Your sources are leftist government sources, yeah totally not biased towards unions
if you truly believe that the government — an entity which is almost entirely run by the wealthy — has a bias in favor of unions,…(i’m speechless). Why on earth would businesses be in support of pushing a leftist agenda? What kind of mental gymnastics does one have to take to reach your conclusion? Lol.
Labor unions are among the "wealthy" that run most (probably all, really) governments.
Are you saying that there exist corrupt labor unions? If so, I totally agree! Of course, the wealthy community will have interest in hi-jacking genuine grassroots organizations looking to protect workers’ rights. But similar to how you’ll have corrupt charity organization, there also do exist ones which act in good faith. I can pull up some stats later today if you’re interested (though judging by you’re decision to +/-5 all comments in-support/opposition to you, I’ll assume you aren’t interested in good faith discussion).
What? I have +/- 4 comments on this entire post. Grow up, dude.
“Grow up, dude.” no.
though another way to interpret your comment: When counter-evidence comes out contradicting my beliefs, it must be that the source is biased! Don’t trust your eyes and ears. Don’t even look into what the sources are saying. (I know you didn’t look into my resources since all the links actually got messed up in the copying process.)
I'm not going to read all those sources. The reality is that we can link to sources all day that back up whatever we want. This is a video game forum. I don't have any interest in spending an hour crafting rebuttals and handpicking sources to backup my arguments.
My opinions with respect to labor unions are mostly based on my own life as a union member and son of a union organizer and member of the socialist workers party of the United States in the '80s.
In short, I've seen firsthand how unions, in the United States at least (presumably everywhere, but I've only experienced American unions), are a net negative to the human experience. Some unions do, arguably, provide some short-term benefits to union members. But, I'd argue that they're not even beneficial to Union membership in the long run. And in a big picture sense, they are a huge net negative to society at large. They make things more expensive, they make companies less efficient, they make their own membership less innovative. Whether they are good in the short term for Union members or not (I have often believed that they are good for their membership) is not relevant to me.
if you’re not looking to face push-back when you make claims, don’t assert them in the first place. If when responded to, you choose to ignore the response and cite personal testimony as your “evidence”, downvoting any and all opposing remarks, then you’ve wasted both our time.
I think his personal testimony is fair and he is a source if we were to believe him (and why would he be lying). I don't think any of you guys' posts was a waste of time, you shared ideas and you even read/had sources to back your posts, everything is fine.
So naive
Great news for those staff getting looked after at work. Hopefully it becomes normalised for more that would benefit.
Unions are bad for bussiness, in america in the technology sector workers already have all the rights , now they will start demanding unreasonable things and become a mafia, while working less and worse
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