A group of more than 450 Diablo developers have voted to form a union at Blizzard, under the banner of the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
According to a CWA press release, the new union is made up of game developers, artists, designers, engineers, and support staff across the Diablo series, and has already been formally recognised by Blizzard parent company Microsoft. These workers join the over 500 World of Warcraft and almost 200 Overwatch devs who each formed their own unions earlier this year.
As you’d imagine, Microsoft’s recent mass layoffs were a big factor in these Diablo staffers opting to union up now, with other concerns including the avoidance of crunch and a “passion tax” that centres around the idea you might feel obligated to accept less for a dream job.
“With every subsequent round of mass layoffs, I’ve witnessed the dread in my coworkers grow stronger because it feels like no amount of hard work is enough to protect us,” said Kelly Yeo, a Diablo game producer and member of the organising committee member. “I am overjoyed that we have formed a union—this is just the first step for us joining a movement spreading across an industry that is tired of living in fear. We are ready to begin fighting for real change alongside our Diablo colleagues.”
Ryan Littleton, another Diablo game designer and committee member, added:
The day after the third round of mass layoffs, I walked into the office, and when I tried to open the door to the cafeteria, my badge was denied. For a moment, I wondered if getting breakfast was how I’d find out I was part of that round. While luckily it was just a technical issue, none of us should have to live with that constant worry that we might be let go at the drop of a hat. A union allows us to organize across the industry to make great games and protect the developers who create them from the constant pressures of layoffs, passion tax, and crunch.
Teams at Blizzard aren’t the only folks at Microsoft who’ve moved to unionise recently. Staff at the likes of Call of Duty developer Raven Software, Fallout and Elder Scrolls studio Bethesda, and Elder Scrolls Online developer ZeniMax have also opted to seek protections. In the case of unionised ZeniMax staff, their union claimed it was fighting for the jobs of workers left in limbo by the abrupt cancellation of an unannounced MMO as part of Microsoft’s July mass layoffs.
Solidarity to these freshly-unionised Diablo devs.