On Tuesday, Texas- and Maryland-based members of ZeniMax Workers United-CWA voted to authorize a strike. The team, comprised of more than 300 quality assurance employees, approved the decision with over 94% voting “aye.”
While ZeniMax Media, acquired by Microsoft Gaming in 2021 for $8.1 billion, has not begun a strike, unionized workers now have formal permission to call for one anytime.
The move comes just a few months after the team’s unionization decision. In November 2024, hundreds of employees at the Microsoft subsidiary walked off the job to protest inaction from leadership.
In a November release, Communications Workers of America (CWA) cited a “lack of progress at the bargaining table on a few key issues” among its primary motivations. ZeniMax quality assurance employees also specifically mention “job security” and “the safety of [their] jobs over time.”
In the group’s latest formal statement, ZeniMax Workers United says it is “continuing to take a stand at the table over better wages, workplace improvements, and key concerns, including a lack of remote work options and the company’s replacement of in-house quality assurance work with outsourced labor without notifying the union.”
A Microsoft spokesperson issued a statement in response to the CWA release:
“Our quality assurance team is an integral part of our business and is key to our ability to deliver games our players will love. We respect the team’s right to express their viewpoints and are deeply committed to reaching a fair and equitable resolution that acknowledges the teams’ contributions. There has been substantial progress over the course of the negotiations, reaching tentative agreements on a majority of the topics at the table. We have presented a package proposal that we believe is fair — if accepted it would result in immediate compensation increases, even more robust benefits and is in alignment to the company’s hybrid model of 3 days in office. We look forward to continuing this progress during negotiations.”
Rampant layoffs, increasing generative AI utilization, stagnant wages, and sweeping return-to-office mandates hang like a raincloud above many video game industry employees. With more and more workers expressing fears and concerns, the CWA revealed its launching of a nationwide video game employee union, United Videogame Workers.
Union membership is open to any stateside industry workers. With increasing union accessibility, convenient collaboration via social media platforms like Bluesky, and growing employee familiarity with workers’ rights, it is likely that videogame industry union activity won’t stop with ZeniMax.
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A lifelong gamer raised on classic titles like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and Croc, Stephanie brings her expertise of gaming and pop culture to deliver unique, refreshing views on the world of video games, complete with references to absurd and obscure media.
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