Activision Blizzard’s Overwatch team has created a wall alliance under the Communications Workers of the United States (CWA). The union has been recognized by parent company Microsoft, which includes nearly 200 developers from design and production to quality assurance, the company said in an announcement. This is the latest development in video game workers’ wider organizational work, aiming to ensure better job protection and improve their working conditions. Last summer, in the months leading up to this, a team of more than 500 employees and quality assurance.
According to the CWA’s announcement on Friday, “Neutral arbitrators confirmed today that the vast majority of workers either signed union authorization cards or said they wanted to conduct union representation through an online portal.” Members of the new Overwatch Game Manufacturers Association – CWA join more than 2,000 workers at other Microsoft-owned studios that have been integrated with the CWA. “Unionization is about sitting down at the table so we can work with leadership to build better, more sustainable working conditions,” Jess Castillo, senior test analyst II and member of the organizing committee, said in a statement.
