As job instability grows exponentially in the video game industry, workers are looking to protect themselves through unions. We've already seen developers unionise at various big companies, and now more than 450 Blizzard workers are unionising with the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
As posted by the CWA, Microsoft has recognised the union, which makes up "one of the largest wall-to-wall unions at a Microsoft-owned studio." The new union is now part of the reported 3,500 Microsoft employees that have unionised with the CWA.
Skye Hoefling, senior software engineer on Diablo said: "I grew up playing Diablo, and I feel lucky that I get to work at Blizzard on a game that's very special to me and the gaming community. But passion can't protect us from job instability. Our union allows us to focus on making magical experiences for our players instead of worrying about the unstable job industry."
Ryan Littleton, game designer on Diablo, added: "The day after the third round of mass layoffs, I walked into the office, and when I tried to open the door to the cafeteria, my badge was denied. For a moment, I wondered if getting breakfast was how I'd find out I was part of that round. While luckily it was just a technical issue, none of us should have to live with that constant worry that we might be let go at the drop of a hat."
We'll have to see if this unionisation can help prevent the mass layoffs we're seeing in the game industry right now, but if anything can help add a sense of security to people's jobs, it'll hopefully mean we won't see as many ruthless cuts in the future. Hopefully...