1-04-2023 4:47am

HUNT VALLEY STUDIO

Hundreds of Video Game Workers at Microsoft-Owned Studios Are Trying to Unionize

AN INTERVIEW WITHJUSTIN VAN DEUSEN ZACHARY ARMSTRONG, jacobin.com

This month, around 300 workers at four Microsoft-owned video game studios across the US are voting on whether to unionize. Jacobin spoke to workers involved in the effort about their organizing and why they want a union.

This month, three hundred video game workers at fourt game studios owned by Microsoft are voting on whether to unionize with the Communication Workers of America (CWA). The studios involved in the effort, which all belong to the holding company ZeniMax Media, recently acquired by Microsoft, include Bethesda Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks in Rockville, Maryland, ZeniMax Online Studios in Hunt Valley, Maryland, and id Software in Dallas, Texas.

ZeniMax Media developers, like game workers across the industry, complain of overwork during the “crunch” time that occurs as games approach their release dates, inadequate wages, and a lack of input into important management decisions. Jacobin’s Sara Wexler spoke with quality assurance (QA) testers at Bethesda Softworks and id Software about their organizing efforts and what they’re hoping for from a union.

What sparked the decision to unionize?

JUSTIN VAN DEUSEN

You could say it was a process of elimination. My company, Bethesda Softworks, has systemic problems that have not or could not be resolved through conventional channels. We opted for the solution of collective bargaining because it felt more constructive than merely coping or leaving the company.

ZACHARY ARMSTRONG

Several different factors started to converge, especially this year, as rising costs of living in all of our studio locations started to become more and more apparent. It was clear that our pay was not at all keeping up with what we what we needed to live. Those of us in Texas, like the Dallas studios for example, don’t have quite as high a cost of living. But the writing’s on the wall for us too, and if we don’t do something soon, then we will be in a situation where we can’t afford to work. Pay is a really important thing for us.

SARA WEXLER

When did the organizing around unionization start?

JUSTIN VAN DEUSEN

The 306 people who are organizing are divided into three groups. I’m part of the largest group, which covers Bethesda Softworks and Bethesda Game Studios in Rockville. That’s roughly 188 people. We started before the other two groups, which are sixty-eight people at ZeniMax Online Studios for Hunt Valley, Maryland FINISH READING HERE