Blizzard Hearthstone & Warcraft Rumble Developers Unionize with CWA
Developers working on Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble have formed a new union represented by the Communication Workers of America (CWA). The unit includes over 100 people — software engineers, designers, artists, quality assurance testers and producers — and joins a growing wave of unions across Blizzard.
The move builds on organizing wins at Blizzard earlier this year: World of Warcraft staff formed the Warcraft Gamemakers Guild last year, and teams behind Diablo and Overwatch followed in 2025. According to CWA, roughly 1,900 Blizzard employees are now represented by the union.
- New unit size: 100+ developers across Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble
- Representation: Communication Workers of America (CWA)
- Context: Part of wider organizing at Blizzard and Microsoft-owned studios
This new union arrives amid broader turbulence at Microsoft’s gaming division. Major cuts and layoffs across studios this summer reportedly included winding down work on Warcraft Rumble. Organizing has been helped by neutrality agreements Microsoft signed with the CWA for Activision Blizzard (2022) and ZeniMax (2024), which have made union drives smoother. However, the neutrality agreement covering Activision Blizzard is reported to expire in October 2025 — a development that could complicate future organizing efforts.
For readers wanting the original coverage, see the Engadget report: Engadget — Blizzard teams working on Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble unionize.
While unions aim to give workers more collective voice on pay, job security and working conditions, the coming expiration of key neutrality agreements raises questions about how smoothly future organizing drives can proceed. Microsoft’s earlier neutrality commitments were tied to regulatory approval of its $68.7B acquisition of Activision Blizzard; with that acquisition concluded, the incentives for such agreements may shift.
Discussion: Do you think the expiry of neutrality agreements will slow unionization across game studios, or will momentum among developers continue? Share your thoughts below.