As CEOs dress up for gaming awards, 461 employees unite at Zenimax Online Studios

It’s cool to secretly launch a game during an awards ceremony. But you know what’s even cooler? Establish a theft association. As many in the games industry settle into a night of hype and blockbuster gimmicks, a group of US workers have quietly managed to develop something of their own. Employees at Zenimax Online Studio started their union with 461 members Bluesky on social media Last night.

Its members include engineers, artists, web developers and game designers. Most of those workers are in Maryland, the union says, but others are spread across states including California, New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Texas.

“Together with the union, we look forward to working together to push for workplace reform,” he said, “including job security, protections from AI, better pay and benefits – in an industry we love so much.”

The high number of layoffs in recent years, thousands of which have fallen at Microsoft-owned studios, has been cited as a concern over “job security.” Zenimax Online Studios are the developers behind it. Elder scrolls onlineAnd they are owned by Windows distributors.

Microsoft has officially recognized the alliance, but you should know that they’re doing it for a reason, following last year’s massive acquisition of Activision Blizzard. They are required to do. It partially explains why Zenimax QA staff They have recently been able to collaborate more easily than with a studio under another company.

The Zenimax Online Union, which was formed last night, is the parent union of the Communications Workers of America, which has been organizing workers in the states for several years. Earlier this year, that same parent team helped the developers of another Elder Scrolls game at Bethesda Game Studios. They also form their own associationConsisting of 241 employees.

“We’re working with some pretty huge corporations,” a CWA producer told Nick. I recently spoke to them about their company’s campaign.“The imbalance of power is very clear. So try to organize underground so that people are not completely prevented from exercising their rights before they have a chance to understand their rights.

I don’t think there’s a more sneaky attack than Geoff Quigley doing as soon as he takes the stage. good job.