All 500 members of Blizzard's World of Warcraft development team have formed a union

All 500 members of Blizzard's World of Warcraft team have formed the largest union in Microsoft's gaming portfolio, following the lead of 240 staff at Bethesda Game Studios with their vote to unionize. This means that around 1,750 of Microsoft's gaming employees are now in unions.

The details:

• World of Warcraft workers will now be represented by the Communication Workers of America (CWA), with whom Bethesda Game Studios employees also unionized. Tom Smith, Senior Director of Organizing at CWA commented, "The decision by workers on World of Warcraft to form a union marks a key inflection point in the broader movement for video game worker organizing industry-wide."
• The pioneers of the unionization effort at Blizzard are aiming to improve compensation, benefits, and job security, with Eric Lanham, Test Analyst remarking, "What we’ve accomplished at World of Warcraft is just the beginning. My colleagues and I are embarking on a quest to secure better pay, benefits, and job security through a strong union contract."
• As with Bethesda's decision to unionize, the hope is that the action will help lead to reform across the wider industry, which has seen an incredible number of layoffs and studio closures over the last couple of years. CWA has already helped workers at ZeniMax, Activision, SEGA of America, and Tender Claws unionize, with more set to follow.
• Interestingly, Microsoft has once again voluntarily recognized the union of its workers. Previously, the corporation had promised not to hinder unionization efforts as part of the Activision Blizzard buyout saga.

Other recent Microsoft news:

• 241 workers at Bethesda Game Studios have officially unionized with the Communication Workers of America (CWA), establishing the first comprehensive union at a Microsoft game studio.
  
• Microsoft announced that Xbox Game Pass would be subject to another price increase as well as structural changes, prompting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to claim that this is "exactly the sort of consumer harm" it warned about.

Other recent gaming news:

• The Ubisoft development team behind Assassin's Creed Shadows has apologized for elements of the game's marketing campaign that have upset some Japanese fans.
• Beloved indie game publisher Humble Games appears to be no more after its owner Ziff Davis let go of all 36 of the company's staff.