Unionized Blizzard workers have secured their first-ever contracts with the publisher, and the terms ensure wage increases, protection against just cause terminations, and other guaranteed workplace changes.
After two years of negotiations, Blizzard's unionized staff across Diablo, World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and more have ratified historic contracts with the company. The new contracts directly address key concerns like pay rates, termination processes, remote work and disability accommodations, and hybrid workweek schedules. There's also a provision for 4 weeks of extra severance for union workers.
The contracts even force Blizzard to discuss, evaluate, and directly bargain with CWA union members over how AI tools are used when doing business. Another interesting part of the contracts: Workers now have the right to be "recalled" into positions that open in unionized groups for 14 months after their layoff date--meaning that open positions at union teams can be filled by union workers rather than being filled by outside parties.
"Nearly 1900 video game workers have won a breakthrough first contract, whose terms will now extend to all units across Blizzard's game teams and shared services, including union-represented workers at World of Warcraft, Quality Assurance, Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble, Overwatch, Diablo, and Blizzard's Platform & Technology and Story and Franchise Development units," the press release reads.
The news also comes at a time when Microsoft still has 1,600 layoffs planned for the Xbox games division, which includes the billion-dollar publisher Blizzard Entertainment.
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Blizzcon 2026 will go live this weekend and the publisher is expected to reveal multiple big announcements, including a new StarCraft game.
