Blizzard Unionization Wave Continues as Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble Developers Organize Developers working on Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble at Blizzard Entertainment have formed a new union. This is the latest labor organization effort within the Microsoft owned studio. The new unit, which represents over 100 employees, is represented by the Communication Workers of America. It includes software engineers, designers, artists, quality assurance testers, and producers. The inspiration for this new union came from the successful formation of the Warcraft Gamemakers Guild by World of Warcraft workers last year. That effort was followed earlier in 2025 by similar unions representing the developers behind the Diablo and Overwatch franchises. According to the CWA, the organization now represents over 1,900 workers at Blizzard. This new union arrives at a critical moment for the company. Blizzards parent company, Microsoft, implemented major cuts across its gaming division this summer. These layoffs reportedly led to Blizzard winding down development on Warcraft Rumble. The surge in union membership across Microsofts studios is largely due to neutrality agreements the company signed with the CWA. These agreements, which respect workers right to organize, were signed for Activision Blizzard in 2022 and for ZeniMax in 2024. However, this supportive environment for unionization may be about to change. Reports indicate that the neutrality agreement covering Activision Blizzard workers is set to expire in October 2025. This expiration could make forming future unions significantly more difficult. Microsoft initially signed its first neutrality agreement to help reassure regulators during its 68.7 billion dollar acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Now that the acquisition is fully complete, the company may have less incentive to maintain such a cooperative stance with labor organizers.
