Raven Software’s quality assurance staff formed a union in 2022 at the FPS studio called the Game Workers Alliance (GWA), with the aid of Communication Workers Of America (CWA), following several layoffs. Even at the time, employees claimed they faced interference and resistance from management in an effort to “undermine” their efforts. It was a fairly sophisticated exchange that included limiting who could actually vote — I recommend reading the story linked above for the full story.
According to Game Developer, “the initial optimism that accompanied the studio’s efforts to form a labor union has already faded,” as attempts to reach a collective bargaining agreement were met with an even greater wave of blocking from higher-ups.
“Following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, our members were optimistic that they would quickly secure their first contract with Raven Software,” CWA President Claude Cummings told Game File. “Unfortunately, that did not happen. We encourage Microsoft to address the concerns raised in the unfair labor practices allegation and make reaching a fair settlement a priority.”
Microsoft assured Game File that it remains “committed to negotiating in good faith,” though the same report indicated that Raven employees “have yet to make significant progress” despite several negotiation attempts since the union was formed in 2022.
Yesterday, we learned that 44 of the 95 employees of Greedfall 2 Spiders studio have signed an open letter to their employers detailing a range of grievances, including unsatisfactory working conditions, lack of gender equality and parity, and “global mismanagement.” The employees have announced a strike that will begin next week. In response, Spiders management called the open letter “false and even defamatory accusations” that “in no way reflect the reality of the day-to-day working lives of employees at the company.”
Last month, employees at Bethesda Game Studios and World of Warcraft formed a broad-based union with the support of the CWA.
