More than 450 developers working on Blizzard’s Diablo franchise have officially unionized, joining the Communications Workers of America (CWA)—one of the largest workplace-wide unions formed at a Microsoft-owned studio to date.
This wave of unionization follows widespread layoffs within Microsoft’s gaming division, affecting teams such as Activision Blizzard, Xbox, and ZeniMax Studios. The Diablo developers expressed that frequent downsizing has fueled uncertainty and stress across the team.
With every round of layoffs, I saw the dread in colleagues deepen—because it felt like no amount of hard work could protect us
Kelly Yeo, a producer on Diablo Team 3
Hundreds of Blizzard’s Diablo developers have voted to unionize, joining a growing wave of Microsoft game workers pushing for representation after mass layoffs cut 9,000 jobs and left many in a state of constant uncertainty.
This movement adds to a wave of similar unionization across Blizzard and other Microsoft studios, including teams for World of Warcraft, Overwatch 2, narrative departments, QA, and more—bringing the total to over 3,500 CWA-represented employees within the gaming division.
