Blizzard Albany announces unionization bid

The studio, formerly known as Vicarious Visions, goes public with its unionization efforts.

Blizzard Albany announced earlier today that it has filed for a union election with the National Labour Relations Board. The developer is owned by Activision Blizzard, and most recognised for their work on Crash Bandicoot: The N'sane Trilogy and the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater remakes.

Amanda Laven, am associate test analyst at Blizzard Albany, had this to say, "I firmly believe that having the union is going to give us the power that we need to make our workplace better," she claimed in an interview with the Washington Post.

The employees of Blizzard Albany requested Activision Blizzard management to voluntarily recognise their union, and while this request was acknowledged, the company has not yet specified if the union would be recognised.

The workers are referring to themselves as Game Workers Alliance, keeping the name broad so that other parts of the company and other workers across country could join over time. Activision Blizzard employees will also be planning a walk out later this week in order to protest the overturn of the Roe v. Wade case and in order to demand better workplace protections.

Laven also claims the decision to form GWA was partly from the organising campaign at Raven Software in which 28 quality assurance testers won their bid for a union in May. “Raven has been a huge inspiration to us,” Laven claimed. “Seeing their process, it’s been demystifying to see them do it first and have an idea of how things go and how the company might respond … We’ve already gotten to see some someone do it in our own company, and they’ve been very forthcoming with us talking to us about what things are like and what problems they encountered. It’s been very, very helpful and inspiring.”

The demand for better working conditions in the gaming industry has been higher than ever, with the requirements for triple A titles leading to intense crunch periods for developers, who receive little to no compensation for their efforts.

Therefore, hopefully these unions continue to be successful in their push for the better treatment of workers.

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