Another major game studio is unionizing.
Amid the hustle and bustle of the Game Awards 2024, we also learned that ZeniMax Online Studios, developers of The Elder Scrolls Online, are unionizing with the Communication Workers of America (CWA) as ZOS-United CWA. Per the press release, an “overwhelming majority” of developers at the studio signed union authorization cards or voted through a secure portal. The union includes 461 members across the U.S, including web developers, engineers, and artists.
“Today, I’m intensely proud of my coworkers at ZeniMax Online Studios who are joining thousands of video game workers exercising their power to bring more stability to the industry,” said principal economy designer and ZOS United-CWA member John Hartzell. “Regardless of your studio, your title, or where you’re from, unions work to benefit us all.”
With satellite offices around the U.S and in Hungary, ZeniMax Online Studios is one of the larger studios under the Xbox umbrella, with the team shipping yearly chapters for The Elder Scrolls Online while also working on a new IP that’s powered by a new engine.
Microsoft voluntarily recognized the union, keeping with the pattern the company has taken since reaching an agreement with the CWA to remain neutral in any employee unionization efforts.
Unionization continues to grow at Microsoft Gaming
Over the last couple of years, as Microsoft laid off 2,500 employees across its different gaming divisions, unions have been formed across ZeniMax quality assurance (QA), Activision Central QA, the World of Warcraft team at Blizzard Entertainment, and even all of Bethesda Game Studios. With the addition of ZeniMax Online Studios, thousands of employees under Microsoft Gaming are now unionized.
“By coming together and forming a union, we’re able to take a powerful step forward in ensuring a better future for ourselves and for our families, to create protections against layoffs and workplace exploitation, and to provide additional layers of support for workers beyond what FMLA and workplace policies already provide,” said senior motion graphics artist and ZOS United-CWA member Alyssa Gobelle. “At ZeniMax, unions belong here.”
ZeniMax QA workers recently went on a one-day strike, protesting Microsoft’s lack of negotiation around remote work and methods of outsourcing. At the time, the workers told me negotiations were continuing in good faith surrounding other issues, but the union felt action was necessary in order to get Microsoft’s attention on these problems.
Personally, I’m always happy to see more unions across different gaming studios. While they aren’t a one-stop solution, unions are proven to massively help workers, giving them a way to negotiate through problems and find solutions, as well as leaning on each other for support, like we’re seeing now with the growing network of unions at various Xbox studios.
