Workers on Blizzard’s “Story and Franchise Development” team have strongly voted to join the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the United States’ largest communications and media labor union. This decision marks a significant milestone for the North American game industry, as the team becomes the first in-house cinematic, animation, and narrative studio to form a union. The Story and Franchise Development team is responsible for producing key narrative content for Blizzard franchises, including trailers, promotional videos, in-game cutscenes, and archival materials.
This development comes as part of a broader trend in the tech and video game industry, where over 6,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada have joined the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) since the initiative launched five years ago. Last week, workers at Raven Software secured a historic contract with Microsoft, joining ZeniMax QA developers, who also reached an agreement with the company earlier this year.
Microsoft, which acquired Activision Blizzard in 2023, has recognized several unions at its game studios. In July 2024, 500 workers on the World of Warcraft team formed a union, calling it “the largest wall-to-wall union at a Microsoft-owned studio” alongside Blizzard QA workers in Austin. Other studios across Microsoft have also unionized in recent years, including Bethesda, ZeniMax Online Studios, and ZeniMax QA, which finally reached a contract in May after nearly two years of negotiations. Unionized workers at Raven Studios reached an agreement with Microsoft earlier this month.
CWA’s announcement highlighted the significance of the move, with one organizing committee member (and a cinematic producer) noting, “I’m excited that we have joined together in forming a union to protect my colleagues from things like misguided policies and instability as a result of layoffs.”
This unionization comes as part of a growing movement in the video game industry to improve working conditions and establish better standards for employees. With Microsoft’s support and the backing of CWA, these unions aim to address issues ranging from job security to workplace policies, reflecting a broader push for labor rights in the tech sector.