The Elder Scrolls Online Studio ZeniMax Online Has Unionized And Microsoft Voluntarily Recognized The Choice

Early last year, about 300 members of ZeniMax Media voted to unionize and became the largest gaming group in NA to have done so at the time. Then in July of this year, Bethesda employees also unionized, forming the largest "wall-to-wall" union in gaming. The new group of unionized employees crossed department boundaries and included individuals in multiple fields, not just the previous QA-specific unionized departments.

Last night, ironically while The Game Awards aired, the Communication Workers of America (CWA) announced that ZeniMax Oonline, the team behind The Elder Scrolls Online, have joined the union and Microsoft has, once again, voluntarily recognized the union. According to the CWA's announcement, this brings the tally of members of ZeniMax Online Studios (ZOS) United - CWA to 461 employees. This count now includes developers, designers, engineers, and graphic artists.

Today we, a majority of video game workers at ZeniMax Online Studios and the workers behind ESO, are proud to announce the launch of our union with @CWAunion! ✊ pic.twitter.com/GKsPJlCOJa

— ZOS United-CWA (@ZOSUnited) December 13, 2024

Now that the MMORPG's team has joined, CWA represents over 6,000 employees in the gaming industry in Canada and the US since the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) started back in 2020. 

While Microsoft has been true to its word so far and recognized each union voluntarily, it will be interesting to see how contract negotiations go with the company. Obviously the CWA would like to push for industry improvements and better working conditions, but how far will Microsoft be willing to go to meet the union's demands? That will be one of the things I'm personally most interested in moving forward.

If unions start getting the improvements for employees they state they'll seek, it could just be the domino falling that the industry needs to start an industry-wide change.

How willing large companies will be to go along, though, remains to be seem.

“I’m excited to finally see workers have a say in the workplace. Other employers have made a choice to undermine and attack workers who want to collectively improve their working conditions. However, with a union at ZeniMax, we can build a community where we have each other’s backs,” said encounter designer and ZOS United-CWA member Billy Eichner. “We already work together to make great games. Why not work together to make a great workplace?”