More than 160 Blizzard Entertainment workers in Irvine have officially voted to unionize, marking a significant expansion of the burgeoning labor movement within the video game industry. These employees, responsible for creating in-house cinematics, animation, trailers, and narrative content, join a growing number of gaming professionals across the U.S. and Canada who have organized in recent years.
Key Takeaways
- Over 160 Blizzard workers in Irvine have successfully unionized.
- The newly formed union will join the Communications Workers of America Local 9510.
- Microsoft, Blizzard’s parent company, has recognized the union, facilitating an easier organizing process.
- Common issues driving unionization include crunch-time hours, job insecurity, and workplace harassment.
Expanding Labor Movement in Gaming
The unionization effort at Blizzard’s Irvine campus is part of a larger trend, with over 6,000 video game workers having organized nationwide. This wave of activism is largely fueled by persistent issues such as demanding crunch-time hours leading up to product releases, concerns over job security, and allegations of workplace harassment and discrimination. Workers are increasingly seeking fair and transparent pay structures, contributing to the momentum behind unionization.
Reasons Behind the Unionization
John Giarratana, a cinematic producer at the Irvine campus, cited frequent layoffs and a lack of remote work options as key frustrations leading to the unionization vote. "People who work in games, a lot of the reason is they love [games], they want to make them and share them with people," Giarratana stated. "But these waves of layoffs are really hard. It makes it hard to make games, it makes it hard to be creative, and it makes it hard to want to do this work."
Microsoft’s Neutral Stance
Microsoft Corp., which acquired Activision Blizzard in 2023, has recognized the newly formed union. This recognition was facilitated by Microsoft’s pledge to remain neutral in unionization efforts, a stance that has been instrumental in allowing thousands of additional workers within Microsoft-owned studios to organize more readily. A Microsoft spokesperson previously stated, "We continue to support our employees’ right to choose how they are represented in the workplace."
A Growing Trend
This development follows a series of unionization successes in the gaming sector. In late 2021, the first video game union in North America formed at Vodeo Games. In 2022, quality assurance workers at Raven Software, another Activision Blizzard studio, became the first union at a major U.S. gaming company. Last year, over 500 developers working on "World of Warcraft" also elected to form a union. The Communications Workers of America (CWA), the union representing these Blizzard workers, reports that nearly 3,000 workers at Microsoft-owned studios have unionized with them to date.
