CODE-CWA Members Continue to Highlight Video Game Industry Labor Issues at the Game Developers Conference

(SAN FRANCISCO, CA)— It’s been a watershed year for workers organizing with CWA in the video game industry! Just this month, workers at Activision Central QA formed the largest video game union in industry history, bringing the total number of Microsoft video game workers with union representation to over 1,000. CODE-CWA put the labor movement on the map at the 2022 Game Developers Conference, leading the Washington Post to cite labor issues as one of the top 5 takeaways from that year’s conference. Our years of direct support for workers organizing in the industry have resulted in real gains and increased power in workplaces across the country, and we’re just getting started.

At GDC 2024, join CWA organizers and two dozen CWA-represented workers from Tender Claws Human Union, Activision QA United, Blizzard Albany, ZeniMax Workers United, and Sega USA on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, from 8:30 a.m.–5 p.m. PT at the CODE-CWA booth P1709 to talk about the future of organizing in the industry and how CWA’s proven organizing strategies can continue to shape its future…while playing a vintage Sega Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog!

“It’s been a tough year to work in the video game industry; come by our booth for a free ray of hope. Together, we can change this industry for the better by continuing to organize for the pay, benefits, and job stability we deserve,” said Kara Fannon, QA Functional Tester and member of Activision QA United-CWA. 

CWA’s Director of Organizing, Tom Smith, will join the Building a Resilient Industry Through Worker Organizing & Empowerment Roundtable to discuss how collective bargaining can address the unique challenges posed by the game development ecosystem. Participants will have the opportunity to share their personal stories of success and setbacks in empowering themselves and their colleagues within the workplace. The panel will be held in Room 306, South Hall, on Friday, March 22, from 3:00–4:00 p.m.

CODE-CWA is a movement of over 4,000 worker-organizers in the games, tech, and digital industries fighting every single day at studios and publishers large and small to use our collective might to put an end to unethical working conditions and win better pay, benefits, and job security for all workers in the industry.

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The Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA) is a network of worker-organizers and their staff working every single day to build the voice and power necessary to ensure the future of the tech, game, and digital industries in the United States and Canada. CODE-CWA is a project of the Communications Workers of America which represents hundreds of thousands of workers throughout tech, media, telecom, and other industries who stand together to fight for justice on the job and in our communities.