450+ Diablo Developers at Blizzard Vote to Unionize with CWA

More than 450 developers who work on Diablo at Blizzard Entertainment have voted to unionize with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The union will represent designers, engineers, artists and support staff across the Diablo team.

Organizers cited recent mass layoffs across Microsoft — Blizzard’s parent company — and the wider games industry as key motivators. Kelly Yeo, a Diablo game producer and organizing committee member, said layoffs increased fear and uncertainty and helped drive the push to organize.

“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.” — Kelly Yeo, Diablo game producer

This isn’t the first union action connected to Microsoft: QA workers at ZeniMax reached a contract after two years of negotiations, and Blizzard’s Story and Franchise Development team also voted to unionize earlier this month. The CWA helped Overwatch developers unionize earlier this summer. The CWA reports more than 3,500 Microsoft workers have organized with the union, and the United Videogame Workers-CWA was formed earlier this year to coordinate industry-wide organizing in the US and Canada.

Sources: Engadget (original report), Communications Workers of America, United Videogame Workers-CWA.