Blizzard’s Overwatch 2 workforce has unionized. The wall-to-wall union–referred to because the Overwatch Gamemakers Guild–includes practically 200 builders, starting from artists and QA testers to writers and engineers. It’s the second union to kind on the firm since final July, when the workforce behind Blizzard’s hit MMO World of Warcraft efficiently shaped a union of its personal. The Communications Employees of America (CWA) introduced the union in a press launch shared with Kotaku earlier at present, writing that “an awesome majority of staff” supported the initiative.
“Sport builders behind Activision Blizzard’s hit franchise Overwatch have joined the Communications Employees of America (CWA), turning into the newest group of online game staff at Microsoft-owned studios to kind a wall-to-wall union,” the CWA wrote. “A impartial arbitrator confirmed at present that an awesome majority of staff have both signed a union authorization card or indicated that they needed union illustration through an internet portal.”
With the Overwatch 2 workforce’s unionization, the variety of unionized recreation builders working at Microsoft now exceeds 2,000 workers. Nonetheless, the Overwatch Gamemakers Guild now has to cut price for its first contract–a course of that Microsoft has been accused of dragging out.
In accordance with Simon Hedrick, a take a look at analyst at Blizzard, the layoffs initially of 2024 had been largely what motivated the workforce to unionize. Hedrick instructed Kotaku that “As much as that second I would been actually completely happy in what I used to be doing.” Hedrick in fact refers back to the sweeping layoffs by Microsoft final January, through which the tech big lower over 1,900 folks from its online game division, together with Blizzard president Mike Ybarra.
“Individuals had been gone out of nowhere and there was nothing we might do about it,” Hedrick instructed Kotaku.
Along with the looming risk of layoffs, the Overwatch 2 workforce additionally cited pay disparities, work-from-home restrictions, and wanting sure protections–such as freedom from crunch and assured severance packages–as contributing elements to their unionization. In accordance with Kotaku, Blizzard workers have repeatedly harassed that “enhancing their working situations may also result in higher video games,” whereas layoffs and uncompetitive pay makes them worse.
Blizzard UI Artist Sadie Boyd additionally weighed in on the choice to unionize, telling Kotaku “We’re not only a quantity on an Excel sheet. We wish to make video games however we won’t do it with out a sense of safety.”