Overview
- The union-represented workforce at Blizzard voted to ratify the consolidated contract on Wednesday, bringing roughly 1,900 employees across World of Warcraft, Overwatch, Diablo, QA, platform and shared services under three bargaining groups.
- The contract requires Blizzard and Microsoft to discuss, evaluate, and bargain with the Communications Workers of America before implementing generative AI tools that would materially affect union-represented work.
- New layoff rules mandate a 60-day notice or pay in lieu, a severance formula of one week per six months worked plus an extra four weeks for union members, and a 14-month cross-unit recall right for laid-off employees.
- The deal secures wage increases, a three-day in-office hybrid schedule, routes to fully remote status and disability accommodations, plus just-cause grievance procedures to contest discipline or firing.
- The agreement includes a successorship clause to keep protections intact after any sale and arrives as Microsoft has announced large Xbox cuts, a context that union leaders say makes the contract a potential template for other studios and a direct boost to workers’ job security.