Over 200 staffers on Blizzard’s Overwatch franchise have formed a new wall-to-wall union under the banner of the Communications Workers of America, becoming the latest Blizzard outfit to do so.
Per an official announcement on the CWA website, the Overwatch Gamemakers Guild (OWGG) includes “game developers across all disciplines, including design, production, engineering, art, sound, and quality assurance”.
It’s the latest union to be formed as part of the wider Activision Blizzard organization. Others include a union of World of Warcraft developers, which was Blizzard’s first of its kind, and a unionized group of employees at Call of Duty developer (and Activision subsidiary) Raven Software.
In the announcement, OWGG organizer and Overwatch VFX artist Frank Le Cocq says the “massive layoffs in the video game industry” prompted him to “learn about how to organize to create a healthier workplace for everyone”.
He goes on to say that the aforementioned World of Warcraft union’s formation was “heartening” for the then-nascent OWGG. Fellow Overwatch staffer and OWGG organizer Foster Elmendorf says the effort to “organize [the gaming] industry for the better” is “long overdue”.
The new union’s formation is part of a wider movement across the industry, which has seen thousands of workers unionize at their various companies. Other unions formed across the industry include folks at Bethesda parent ZeniMax, Evil West outfit Flying Wild Hog, and staffers at Just Cause dev Avalanche Studios.
It’s not limited to individual studios, either. Back in March, the US’ first industry-wide union, the United Videogame Workers Union, was formed, and it’s open for any industry employee to join.
Shockingly enough, Blizzard hasn’t exactly been the most helpful company in the world when it comes to acknowledging and assisting its employees’ unionization.
When workers at Blizzard’s Albany QA division voted to unionize back in 2022, Activision Blizzard was accused of attempting to stifle the union’s formation, with the company subsequently battling to delay the vote tabulation for said union.
Activision Blizzard has also been subject to a National Labor Relations Board complaint filed on behalf of the CWA back in 2021, with the complaint alleging violations of federal labor law on the company’s part.
We’ll have to wait and see whether this new Overwatch union proceeds smoothly or whether Blizzard decides it wants to try and stand in the way. Stay tuned for more.
