By 6 p.m. Sunday, the union had already run out of the colorful pins representing each bargaining unit—all 7,000 of them—as people kept coming up to congratulate them.
asserted
people → run → them
When members had already packed up, people were still on the convention floor, talking and trading the pins.
asserted
people → pack → pins
“Folks were asking us questions like ‘How do I get involved in unions? Is there anything I can do to help?’,” said Paul Cox, a senior designer on World of Warcraft, recounting the excitement at BlizzCon, the video game developer Blizzard Entertainment’s annual Southern California gaming convention, which took place just over a week ago and drew tens of thousands of attendees, as well as 12.5 million online viewers.
asserted
which → ask → attendees
Since 2024, Blizzard Entertainment workers—first those working on quality assurance in Albany, New York, and Austin, Texas, then the team behind World of Warcraft, unionized one after another, including staff working on story development, technology, and ultra-high-profile games like Overwatch and Diablo.
asserted
workers → work → Overwatch
Blizzard—and Microsoft, now its owner—eventually recognized some 1,900 unionized workers, striking a 2022 labor neutrality agreement with the Communications Workers of America.
asserted
Blizzard → recognize → America
Despite the extraordinary popularity of Blizzard’s games, and the anticipation with which landmark releases like World of Warcraft: Forever—and high-profile games from other studios, like Grand Theft Auto VI—are received, game developers work in a notoriously demanding and insecure sector, regularly putting in 100-hour work weeks in the crunch periods leading up to release only to face sweeping layoffs after games hit the market.
asserted
games → receive → market
Franchises like World of Warcraft and Grand Theft Auto can earn billions for the studios and parent companies behind them, but the teams who make the games are often painfully aware of how little trickles down to them—executive salaries in the gaming world can be several hundred times greater than those of the median staff member.
asserted
salaries → earn → member
Blizzard workers are among those having a rough ride.
asserted
workers → have → ride
In July, Microsoft laid off 1,600 workers from its Xbox division.
asserted
Microsoft → lay → division
While these cuts didn’t have a major impact on workers at Blizzard Entertainment, it was yet another example of budget cuts amid the struggles that came with several massive mergers on the heels of revenue growth early in the Covid pandemic.
asserted
that → have → pandemic
1,600 more staff are expected to be laid off throughout the rest of the fiscal year—cuts, according to the company’s July announcement, that would likely affect Blizzard.
uncertain
that → expect → Blizzard
On Tuesday, Xbox laid off 268 staff as part of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s “reset” campaign.
asserted
Xbox → lay → campaign
The 1,900 workers who have now ratified a contract with Blizzard won protections around job security, remote work, wage increases, and the right to continuously bargain over AI usage in the workplace, a point of serious urgency in an industry eager to incorporate the technology, often with an eye to cost-cutting.
asserted
who → ratify → cutting
Such contracts look vital to many workers in an industry where—in another recent example—Electronic Arts, the company behind game series like Madden NFL and The Sims, has eliminated more than a thousand positions over the past three years, touting AI as a path to quicken development timelines; Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and investment firms including Jared Kushner’s Affinity Partners completed their acquisition of the company last month, highlighting both the value of the industry to global investors and the likelihood of a even more severe private equity squeeze.
asserted
Fund → look → squeeze
A coalition of six European video games unions collectively protested AI, toxic workplaces, and mass layoffs in December.
asserted
coalition → protest → December
But the two years it took to get to that point were difficult, in part because Blizzard changed its bargaining chair multiple times.
asserted
Blizzard → take → chair
“It felt like nine months, maybe even a year, where we didn’t really get much done,” Cox said.
asserted
Cox → feel → months
One of those chairs, Crystal Carey, was later sworn in as President Trump’s NLRB general counsel in January.
asserted
One → swear → January
Mobilizers in each union ramped up their activity with on-campus rallies and union events.
asserted
Mobilizers → ramp → rallies
“There were seven units who were actively bargaining at the same time.
asserted
who → be → time
There were seven different bargaining tables, and we were all trying to get bargaining dates,” said Alison Veneto, a senior editor in story and franchise development at Blizzard.
asserted
Veneto → be → Blizzard
“We all started to work together, show up at each other’s rallies.”
asserted
We → start → rallies
On the week of August 9, the seven unions bargaining at the time merged for what Veneto called an “in-person mega bargaining session” consisting of “70 hours of bargaining over five days.”
asserted
Veneto → bargain → days
Mahreen Fatima, a senior environment artist on Diablo who has been part of mobilization and organizing committees of the game’s staff, described that week of negotiations as “emotionally charged.”
asserted
who → describe → negotiations
“Throughout the entire process of unionizing and bargaining for this contract, we’ve always stayed conscious of the fact that we are doing precedent-setting,” Fatima said.
asserted
Fatima → stay → setting
“Because the people who come after us, they’re just going to build off of this.
asserted
they → come → this
While workers don’t know for sure why bargaining moved so quickly in August, Fatima, Cox, and Veneto said they think the looming September date of BlizzCon was a factor.
asserted
date → know → BlizzCon
The event garnered positive coverage for the company, reportedly the top-performing studio at Microsoft’s Xbox division—rather than coverage of unions holding rallies outside the convention.
uncertain
event → garner → convention
The workers at Blizzard didn’t win everything they demanded, but among their most valuable victories was a guarantee of impact bargaining, allowing workers to bargain with the company on AI use as the technology evolves for the duration of the contract—at least four years.
asserted
technology → win → contract
“Maybe StarCraft [another Blizzard franchise] will be unionizing very soon,” said Fatima, with clear enthusiasm for being able to discuss potential new members.
asserted
Fatima → unionize → members
“If they unionize, they’ll get to join us in our contract.
asserted
they → unionize → contract
They don’t have to go through this two-year-long bargaining process by themselves.”
asserted
They → have → themselves
During BlizzCon weekend, Cox said attendees asked union members how to get involved and help other workers.
asserted
attendees → say → workers
Members pointed people toward fellow workers at Bethesda, where at least 62 staff were reportedly cut during Microsoft’s July layoffs, and Grand Theft Auto publishers Rockstar Games, which is in an ongoing trial with 23 former workers who allege that they were fired last October in retaliation for engaging in union activity (Rockstar claims that the former employees were dismissed over publicly discussing confidential company information online, and denies that the union drive figured in).
uncertain
drive → point → information
“We would really like to see this contract extended throughout the video game industry and for other studios to look at what Blizzard has done and follow suit,” Veneto said.
asserted
Veneto → like → suit
The Aporia
