Fallout, Elder Scrolls and Doom Workers are going on strike to protest at parent company Microsoft

Published:

Hundreds of unionized ZeniMax workers are on strike today over an alleged lack of negotiations with parent company Microsoft.

ZeniMax Workers United-CWA employees went on a one-day strike to condemn Microsoft for allegedly failing to make progress at the remote work bargaining table and for allegedly unilaterally outsourcing quality assurance work without negotiating with the union.

In January 2023, ZeniMax Workers United-CWA formed the first video game manufacturers union at Microsoft, representing more than 300 quality assurance workers in Maryland and Texas. Today’s strike is taking place at four ZeniMax locations in Maryland and Texas, with employees scheduled to return to their offices tomorrow, November 14. Microsoft did not immediately respond to IGN’s request for comment.

- Advertisement -

ZeniMax is an organization that includes id Software studios, creators of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, Bethesda and Doom. He also owns MachineGames, developer of Indiana Jones and Great Circle, and Marvel’s Blade developer Arkane Lyon.

Last month, the Communications Workers of America Union (CWA) filed unfair labor practice charges against ZeniMax for outsourcing work without notice. ZeniMax Workers United-CWA members have expressed concerns that ZeniMax’s recent unilateral decision to outsource quality assurance work threatens job security amid record layoffs in the video game industry.

The strike came after Microsoft’s gaming chief, Phil Spencer, said “the Xbox business has never been more healthy.”

After spending $69 billion on Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard last year, Microsoft laid off more than 2,500 gaming workers and closed three ZeniMax studios. Xbox Series

I’m talking to BloombergSpencer said 2025 is looking brighter thanks to Microsoft’s gaming efforts. “The Xbox business has never been more healthy,” he said, citing growth in cloud and PC gaming as well as console usage. “The company is doing well right now, and I think that means a healthier future for the hardware and games we make.”

Spencer is even confident about the growth of mobile gaming, despite staff reductions in the teams responsible for the underperforming Call of Duty Warzone Mobile and Warcraft Rumble. “I feel pretty good about where this industry is going,” he said. “To reach new players, we need to be creative and adapt to new business models, new devices and new ways of access. We’re not going to expand the market with $1,000 consoles.”

Spencer is obviously under pressure to deliver the game following the Activision Blizzard acquisition, and is in the midst of a major cross-platform effort that could culminate in a Halo release on PlayStation.

“We are in business,” Spencer said in August. “It’s certainly true that at Microsoft the bar is high for us in terms of the deliveries we have to give back to the company. Because we get support from the company which is just amazing and what we can do.

“Looking at it, how can we make our games as strong as possible? Our platform is constantly evolving, across consoles, PC and in the cloud. It will simply be a strategy that works for us.”

Wesley is the UK news editor at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. Wesley can be reached at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Related articles