Nearly 400 Battle.net workers vote to unionize, inspired by other Blizzard teams

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Okay, so big news for those of us who use Battle.net! I just heard that around 400 workers at Blizzard and Activision – the people who *make* the launcher we all use – have officially formed unions. Apparently, they voted to do it through the Communications Workers of America. They’re actually forming *two* separate unions, which makes sense. One is for the folks who build the software – the engineers, designers, project managers, that whole crew. The other is for the people who handle things like translating the game, making sure it’s bug-free, and helping us when we have issues with support. It’s cool timing too, because Microsoft just acknowledged the unions right before their agreement with the CWA was set to expire. Hopefully, this means things will be better for the people who make our gaming experience possible!

Two new unions form from Battle.net workers just ahead of the neutrality deadline

In recent years, several unions have been established at Blizzard, and Microsoft’s acquisition of the company – completed in 2023 after about two years of work – played a role. Back in 2022, as the roughly $69 billion deal was being finalized, Microsoft signed an agreement promising not to hinder union efforts. This didn’t mean Microsoft would actively *support* unions, only that it wouldn’t stand in the way of their formation. The agreement also made it easier and faster for workers to unionize, bypassing some of the usual procedures with the National Labor Relations Board.

Alex Kohn, a senior data scientist at Blizzard, explained that quality assurance and customer support teams are often treated as separate from the rest of the company, despite being essential partners. He emphasized that his team *needs* their collaboration to succeed. Forming a union would give these workers a stronger voice to address their concerns and improve their job security, and it could also encourage similar organizing efforts at other companies, as we’ve seen at Blizzard.

As a gamer, I was really stoked to hear that the folks making World of Warcraft decided to unionize back in 2024. It was a huge deal, and honestly, super inspiring! It felt like a big moment for all the teams at Blizzard. Then, less than a year later, the Overwatch team joined them. I recently read an interview with Daniel Weltz, a veteran software engineer at Blizzard – he’s been there almost 20 years – and he said seeing WoW organize first, being the biggest game and all, really gave them the confidence to think, ‘Hey, we can do this too!’ With so many layoffs happening in the gaming industry – even Microsoft had to let thousands go – it’s awesome to see some developers finding a bit more stability and encouraging others to do the same.

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2025-10-17 23:32