Another union is forming at Blizzard as developers from the company’s story and franchise development (SFD) team have voted in favor of union representation. Announced via the Communication Workers of America (CWA) website, the vote came “either by signing a union authorization card or indicating that they wanted union representation via an online portal.”
All workers will be members of CWA Local 9510 in Orange County, California with Microsoft already recognizing their union.
The union will cover those who work on Blizzard’s in-house cinematics, animation, and narrative team who create game trailers, promotional videos, in-game cutscenes, and other narrative content for Blizzard franchises. It becomes the first group of its kind to form a union in the North American game industry.
“After more than a decade working at Blizzard, I’ve seen all the highs and lows. For years, Blizzard has been a place where people could build their careers and stay for decades, but that stability’s been fading,” Bucky Fisk, a principal editor and member of the organizing committee, said via release. “With a union, we’re able to preserve what makes this place special, secure real transparency in how decisions are made, and make sure policies are applied fairly to everyone.”
The new union joins the “nearly 3,000 workers at Microsoft-owned studios who have organized with CWA to build better standards across the video game industry.”
“These workers are setting the standard for animation, cinematics, and storytelling across the video game industry, creating the breathtaking cutscenes, trailers, and other narrative content that fans have come to love across all Blizzard franchises. We are excited to have them join our union family,” CWA Local 9510 president Jason Justice said.
As of publishing, neither Activision-Blizzard nor Microsoft have made an official comment on the union.
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Mike has been covering the gaming industry since 2012, and has reported on some of the largest events in the industry while also working as an investigative reporter. Outside of…
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