In a first, Microsoft's ZeniMax Studios to Form Labor Union; known for Skyrim, Fallout
About 300 workers at Microsoft Corp.'s ZeniMax Studios, known for popular video games Skyrim and Fallout, have begun organizing to form a union in what would be the first at the software giant in the US.
Quality assurance employees at Maryland-based ZeniMax will be represented by the Communications Workers of America.
The labor movement is gaining steam in the gaming industry, and the ZeniMax action follows the creation of unions at two studios owned by Activision Blizzard Inc., which Microsoft is in the process of acquiring for $69 billion. Microsoft has pledged to remain neutral in the union negotiations.
The ZeniMax union is far larger than past efforts at Activision studios at Blizzard Albany in New York and Raven Software in Wisconsin, encompassing workers across several states who test the games for bugs and ensure they work properly. Quality assurance workers have been among the first to unionize in the games industry over low pay and poor working conditions. Microsoft acquired ZeniMax for $7.5 billion in 2020. The game giant includes Elder Scrolls-publisher Bethesda Softworks, Doom creator Id Software, Arkane Studios and several other developers.
“We are glad to support ZeniMax quality assurance workers as they join the growing video game labor movement in the US,” said CWA President Christopher Shelton, in a statement. “These workers are making history, joining the wave of game and tech workers at Activision, Alphabet, and dozens of other companies who have organized with CODE-CWA to build a better workplace.”
Although Activision Blizzard has fought against its workers' unionization efforts, Microsoft vice chairman and President Brad Smith wrote a blog post in June recognizing that “the workplace is
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