More than 240 Bethesda workers have united to form a union six months after layoffs and closures

It’s a big day for the labor movement in the games industry, as 241 Bethesda employees have formed a union.

Last night, employees at Bethesda Game Studios announced that they have formed a union under the Communications Workers of America (CWA), making it the first fully unionized studio since being acquired by Microsoft. Bethesda Montreal filed to unionize last month, and QA employees at Bethesda parent company Zenimax also filed to unionize in 2023, but with the unionization of the Dallas, Rockville, and Austin facilities, all of Bethesda’s studios in the United States are now unionized. This is also the first “full” union for a Microsoft video game studio, and among the 241 unionized employees are members “including artists, engineers, programmers, and designers who have either signed a union authorization card or indicated that they want union representation.”

“We are so excited to announce the unionization of Bethesda Game Studios and join the movement sweeping across the video game industry,” said Mandi Parker, senior systems designer and CWA member, in a statement. “It’s clear that every worker can benefit from bringing democracy to the workplace and ensuring a protected voice at work. We are thrilled to have hit the ground running and won a fair contract, proving that our solidarity is a real source of power to positively shape our working conditions, our lives, and the company as a whole.”

It’s worth noting that Microsoft has already recognized the union, so the next step will be discussions between the two parties. This is a very big step forward for the labor movement in the gaming industry, especially considering what has happened in the past year. Microsoft laid off nearly 2,000 employees in its gaming division at the beginning of the year, and in May closed Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, Redfall developer Arkane Austin, as well as Alpha Dog Games and Roundhouse Games, all of which were owned by Bethesda. Hopefully, this newly formed union will be another big step for other large studios as well.