Employees of Blizzard's Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble teams “voted strongly in favor” of joining the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union.
More than 100 workers, including software engineers, designers, artists, quality testers and manufacturers, voted to unionize.
Employees will become members of CWA Local 9510 in Irvine, California. Microsoft recognized the union.
“Whether we're fighting to protect against layoffs, to keep our remote workers safe, or to close the wage gap, the pressures we face make it difficult to produce the high-quality work we care about,” said organizing committee member and senior 2D artist Uriah Voth.
“The organization gives us the opportunity to empower ourselves and challenge the instability and unfair conditions that undermine us.”
According to the CWA, this latest division was inspired by unionization of more than 500 World of Warcraft developers last July.
“The Hearthstone team's organizing efforts are proof that creativity and collective power can go hand in hand,” added CWA Local 9510 President Jason Justice.
“These are some of the most talented developers and artists in the industry, and their decision to form a union makes it clear that creating great games starts with respect for those behind them.”
More than 1,900 Blizzard employees have joined CWA, including across its platform and technology. History and development of the franchise divisions, as well as developers from Diablo and Overwatch.
Platforms and Technology is the latest department to unionize. announced his decision last week (October 15).
To date, about 3,000 workers at Microsoft-owned studios have joined the CWA union.
This includes Raven Software employees, who filed a complaint against the studio, Activision and Microsoft for allegedly refusing to bargain.
