CD Projekt Red developers unionize after multiple rounds of layoffs in three months

Following three waves of layoffs at the studio, employees at Witcher developer CD Projekt Red have joined forces with other workers in Poland's gaming industry to form a union.

The details:

• After 9% of the studio's employees were laid off, causing a "tremendous amount of stress and insecurity," CD Projekt Red staff and fellow industry workers announced the formation of the Polish Gamedev Workers Union under OZZ IP.
• According to the FAQ, the union's goal is to provide "more security, transparency, better protection, and a stronger voice in times of crisis," with membership open to anyone in the Polish gaming industry, not just developers, for a monthly fee of 16 PLN.
• CD Projekt has yet to respond to the union's formation, according to founders Lev Ki and Pawe Myszka. They also stated that the company has not engaged in union-busting behavior despite being informed of the situation and that working conditions are "very good" at the studio.
• In the last three months, CD Projekt has gone through three waves of layoffs, beginning with 29 job losses at Boston-based The Molasses Flood in May, followed by around 30 more in the Gwent team in June, and finally, around 100 employees in July.

More gaming news:

• Telltale Games has confirmed that several employees were let go in September, with the "very small” development team of The Wolf Among Us 2 confirmed to have been affected.
• Microsoft is expected to complete its acquisition of Activision Blizzard this week, with the UK's Competition and Markets Authority expected to approve the revised deal after initially opposing it in April.