Video Game Developers at Heart Machine Secure Voluntary Union Recognition with CWA

Culver City, Calif. — Ahead of the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2026, developers at independent video game studio Heart Machine have formed a union with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 9003, joining thousands of video game workers who have organized with CWA at some of the industry’s largest studios. Workers at the LA-based studio produced Hyper Light Drifter in 2016 and Solar Ash in 2021. The wall-to-wall unit represents all frontline employees at Heart Machine.

“I decided to get involved in organizing my studio because I’ve seen so many peers in the industry stand up to protect the craft we all care so deeply about. Watching that momentum grow made me realize that if we love this work, we have to protect it, especially now,” said Steph Aligbe, Gameplay Tools Engineer at Heart Machine and CWA Local 9003 member. “Our union is proud that our studio chose to voluntarily recognize our union and live up to its high-road labor values, and we look forward to working on a first contract that safeguards our workplace.”

In February, worker-organizers at Heart Machine presented management with a request for voluntary recognition after a super-majority of their eligible co-workers signaled their desire to be represented by CWA to better advocate for their rights and benefits within the studio. Voluntary recognition is a streamlined pathway to union recognition endorsed by the federal labor board.

The union victory builds off of the unprecedented organizing momentum across Microsoft’s video game studios, where nearly 4,000 workers organized across the past couple of years, and includes some of the industry’s most well-known franchises, including id Software, Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble, Diablo, and Overwatch.

Just like the developers at Heart Machine, video game workers in the U.S. and Canada are also able to join CWA’s direct-join formation, United Videogame Workers-CWA Local 9433, a training ground that has helped workers build the skills and relationships needed to organize their own studios regardless of current job status or employer. Video game workers interested in contacting an organizer should visit the following webpage to learn more: https://uvw-cwa.org/contact-us.

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About CODE-CWA

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.

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