Bethesda Game Studios is known for creating some of the greatest open-world RPGs in gaming like it Fallout 3 And SkyrimNow it will also be known as the first major studio in the US to unify all of its teams.
On July 19, owner Microsoft recognized a union representing 241 workers at Bethesda, the organization behind the union. The older roles And Fallout franchises, and last year released the sprawling sci-fi adventure Star fieldThe group, which will be represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), is made up of artists, designers, programmers and engineers from the roughly 450-person studio. The news comes as Bethesda prepares to launch its Shattered space extension for Star field And Fallout is seeing a major resurgence in popularity due to the Amazon Prime Customization.
Unlike recent unionization efforts at Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax, and others, which focused primarily on QA testers, this “wall-to-wall” union represents workers from all the different disciplines and departments needed to make the blockbusters Bethesda is famous for. In that sense, it’s similar to the union at Sega of America representing employees of the organization’s marketing, localization, and community management teams.
“We are so excited to announce our union at Bethesda Game Studio and join the movement sweeping the video game industry,” said Mandi Parker, Senior Systems Designer at Bethesda, in a statement. “It’s clear that bringing democracy to the workplace and securing a protected voice at work can benefit every employee.”
The process has been so quick and smooth because of a neutrality agreement Microsoft struck with the CWA, in which it pledged not to fight unionization efforts or require formal elections. Instead, employees across the company can form a union simply by showing majority support for a union through a card check or by visiting an online portal. The tech giant struck the deal as part of an effort to push through its massive $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year.
Unionization efforts have been underway in the gaming industry for years, as workers push back against cultures of long overtime and frequent mass layoffs. That shift appears to be gaining momentum as major players like Bethesda join the fray. Union members there will now begin negotiating their first contract. So far, only the union at Sega of America has ratified a collective bargaining agreement at a major gaming company.