ZeniMax Online Studios’ team of 461 developers have banded together to form a union, joining those before them at Bethesda and ZeniMax QA.
Named ZOS United-CWA, this union came to life with help from the Communications Workers of America. It includes folks like web developers, designers, engineers, and artists. On Bluesky, they shared that their group represents “a majority of video game workers at ZeniMax Online Studios and the workers behind ESO.”
“We are thrilled to be joining thousands of other tech and video game workers in building solidarity across the industry with CODE-CWA,” the union expressed on Bluesky, highlighting the CWA’s mission to unite those in tech, gaming, and digital spaces. “With a union, we are looking forward to collectively pushing for improvements to the workplace, including job security, protections against AI, better pay and benefits–in an industry that we’re so deeply passionate about.”
We think it’s cool when people come together to make things better.
This June, Microsoft agreed to stay out of union matters by signing a labor-neutrality pact with CWA. This made it easier for ZeniMax workers to unionize. Not long after, Bethesda workers announced their own union, marking Microsoft’s first fully unionized game studio. Before this, in January 2023, QA workers from ZeniMax and Bethesda created the largest certified video game union in the U.S.
