Blizzard Story Team Votes to Unionize

Blizzard's Story and Franchise Development (SFD) team has voted to unionize with the Communications Workers of America, according to a press release issued today.

The SFD team includes Blizzard employees who create in-house cinematics, animation, trailers, promotional videos, in-game cutscenes, and other narrative content across Blizzard franchises. The team also comprises archivists and historians.

These employees join thousands of others at Microsoft and Activision Blizzard who have unionized with their departments in recent years under Microsoft's labor neutrality agreement. Last year, the entire World of Warcraft team voted to unionize, followed by the Overwatch development team this past May. Other organized groups within the company include Raven Software workers, who ratified their first contract earlier this month; Zenimax QA workers, who secured a contract in May; the Bethesda union; and several others.

“After more than ten years at Blizzard, I’ve experienced both the highlights and the challenges,” said organizing committee member and principal editor Bucky Fisk. “For a long time, Blizzard was a place where people could build a lasting career, but that sense of stability has been eroding. Forming a union allows us to protect what makes this studio unique, ensures genuine transparency in decision-making, and guarantees that policies are applied fairly to everyone.”