Latest news with #ZeniMax
Engadget
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Engadget
ZeniMax QA workers win tentative union contract with Microsoft
After two years of negotiating, ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, the union representing quality assurance workers at ZeniMax Media, has reached a tentative union contract with Microsoft, according to the Communication Workers of America. The union originally formed in 2023 and was immediately recognized by Microsoft, which made its commitment to stay neutral towards union organizing at ZeniMax official in 2024. The new contract will cover over 300 ZeniMax employees and includes "substantial across-the-board wage increases as well as new minimum salaries for workers," the CWA says. The contract also includes language protecting workers from the impacts of AI and "a crediting policy that clearly acknowledges the QA workers' contributions to the video games they help create." "Video games have been the revenue titan of the entire entertainment industry for years, and the workers who develop these games are too often exploited for their passion and creativity," Jessee Leese, a QA tester and ZeniMax Workers United-CWA bargaining committee member shared in the CWA announcement. "Our first contract is an invitation for video game professionals everywhere to take action. We're the ones who make these games, and we'll be the ones to set new standards for fair treatment." The new contract is considered "tentative" until union members ratify it, but because existing contracts often act as a reference in ongoing negotiations, the agreements ZeniMax workers secured will likely serve as a standard for other unions going forward. ZeniMax QA testers aren't the only video game union at Microsoft — QA workers at Raven Software, QA workers at Activision, workers at ZeniMax Online Studios and the development team behind Overwatch are all still in active negotiations with the company. Outside of Microsoft, the CWA also announced the United Game Workers-CWA union at this year's GDC, as a another option for representation. United Game Workers-CWA is a direct-join union, a labor organization that all workers in an industry can participate in without needing legal recognition from an employer. The idea is that currently employed workers, anyone who's been laid off and freelancers can all still wield power together, even without a potential contract hanging in the balance.
New York Times
12 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Videogame Union Reaches Deal on Industry-First Contract at Microsoft
A union representing 300 video game workers at Microsoft said on Friday it had reached a tentative agreement with the tech company on the terms of the first union contract in the gaming industry. The Communications Workers of America, which represents the workers, announced the contract covering quality assurance employees at ZeniMax. The gaming publisher, which Microsoft bought for $7.5 billion in a deal that closed in 2021, makes blockbuster titles including The Elder Scrolls, Fallout and Doom. The agreement includes a 13.5 percent wage increase for all workers and institutes new minimum pay for each category of jobs, the union said. Employees in the gaming industry — particularly those who work long hours in quality assurance, testing games for bugs and other glitches — have been working for several years to organize over their pay and conditions. Microsoft makes the Xbox gaming platform and has acquired a number of gaming companies, which have become one of its most important consumer businesses generating $23 billion in revenue in the past four quarters. Tech companies have typically resisted unionization. But in its 2022 acquisition of the video game maker Activision Blizzard, Microsoft agreed not to oppose union organizing as part of its campaign to gain antitrust approval for the deal. That acquisition closed for almost $70 billion in 2023, and hundreds of workers there formed a union, although they have yet to come to a contract agreement. Employees at three ZeniMax locations also formed a union in 2023, called ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, in a vote that avoided a conventional union election run by the National Labor Relations Board. The union then began negotiating with Microsoft. Beth Allen, a spokeswoman for the Communications Workers of America, said the lowest paid workers in the union at ZeniMax earn $20.75 an hour. That would jump to $25 an hour upon ratification of the new contract by union members, a vote expected by June 20. On July 1, an across-the-board wage increase will bring up that pay to $28.38 an hour. 'We appreciate the dedication and engagement of the ZeniMax QA team and the bargaining committee throughout this process,' Amy Pannoni, a vice president at Microsoft, said in a statement. 'The tentative agreement represents a meaningful step forward and reflects a shared commitment to constructive dialogue and a common goal of fostering a positive workplace.' The tentative agreement also incorporates a novel provision announced in late 2023 on the use of artificial intelligence, which is expected to upend some industries by replacing or assisting workers. ZeniMax committed to informing the union when its plans to use A.I. could affect workers, and 'to bargain those impacts upon request,' the union said.
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Bethesda Devs Win First-Ever Union Contract In The Country At A Major Gaming Company After Threatening Strike
ZeniMax Workers United just became the first game developer union in the country to win a contract at a major publisher. The group of over 300 quality assurance testers across franchises like Fallout and Doom secured an agreement with Microsoft that includes wage increases, salary minimums, and crediting procedures. 'Video games have been the revenue titan of the entire entertainment industry for years, and the workers who develop these games are too often exploited for their passion and creativity. Organizing unions, bargaining for a contract, and speaking with one collective voice has allowed workers to take back the autonomy we all deserve,' ZeniMax QA tester and bargaining committee member Jessee Leese said in a press release. 'Our first contract is an invitation for video game professionals everywhere to take action. We're the ones who make these games, and we'll be the ones to set new standards for fair treatment.' The contract will now go to the full membership for review with a ratification vote planned for June 20. Once completed, ZeniMax devs, including staff at Bethesda Game Studios, will have won the first collective bargaining agreement of any of the major gaming unions that have formed in recent years. Sega of America staff are also currently in negotiations for a contract, as are developers at other Microsoft-owned studios including the Overwatch 2 and World of Warcraft teams at Blizzard as well as Call of Duty testers at Raven Software. The ZeniMax contract comes just two months after union employees there threatened to go on strike if an agreement wasn't reached following a nearly two-year-long negotiation process. The Communications Workers of America, which represents ZeniMax Workers United and other Microsoft gaming unions, previously filed an unfair labor practice charge against the tech giant claiming it was slow-walking the talks. The new contract, once ratified, will provide important benchmarks for other teams currently hashing out agreements. . For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The Verge
13 hours ago
- Business
- The Verge
QA workers at ZeniMax reach tentative contract agreement
The over 300 quality assurance workers of the ZeniMax Workers United-CWA union have reached a tentative contract agreement with Microsoft. It is the first contract agreement at Microsoft since the concerted effort to unionize the video game industry began roughly four years ago. 'This is a monumental victory for all current video game workers and for those that come after,' said Page Branson, a Senior QA Tester at ZeniMax in the press release announcing the agreement. A ratification vote for the contract will take place in late June. The union, organized by the Communication Workers of America (CWA), was formed in 2023 and was voluntarily recognized by Microsoft as a part of the company's labor neutrality agreement with the CWA. In the two years since, the union and Microsoft engaged in contract negotiations that precipitated a one day strike to protest return to office and outsourcing policies and, in April, a strike authorization vote. The contract details offer up a glimpse of what workers across the industry are fighting for and what they can win. According to CWA's press release, the contract guarantees wage increases – a big deal considering QA are some of the lowest paid workers in the industry. The contract will also include protections against arbitrary dismissal, as well as crediting guidelines – another big deal as there are numerous ways a person who worked on a video game can get left off its credits. While the industry's organization efforts are ongoing, there's been a surge in activity over the last four years. Workers at Raven Software, which was then a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard before its acquisition by Microsoft, organized the first video game union at a AAA publisher in 2022. That win kicked off a series of other high profile unionization efforts across the industry but concentrated primarily within Microsoft – ostensibly to take advantage of the labor neutrality agreement that states that Microsoft will voluntarily recognize union efforts within the company. With ZeniMax workers finally winning a contract agreement at Microsoft, the industry has another first – one that will set a precedent for other, future negotiations.
Bloomberg
15 hours ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Microsoft's ZeniMax Reaches Contract Deal, Union Says
Microsoft Corp. and the Communications Workers of America have reached a tentative union contract covering around 300 quality assurance staff at the company's gaming subsidiary ZeniMax, the union said Friday. The agreement comes after nearly two years of negotiations and would represent the first union contract at Microsoft in the US, a step forward for organizing efforts at the company.
