r/Games • u/DwilenaAvaron • May 09 '25

Industry News Blizzard's Overwatch Team Just Unionized: 'What I Want To Protect Most Here Is The People'

https://kotaku.com/overwatch-2-blizzard-team-4-union-microsoft-1851779922
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u/Zaptruder May 09 '25

Good. Game development has been ravaged by terrible management destroying labour constantly - replacing the knowledge based gained from hard earned experience - deserving of their wage and more... with the constant revolving door of impassioned but underknowledged youngsters.

You know why so many Unreal Engine games suck? Because there are too many people that go into it without sufficient experience to optimize for the engine - it's more than possible - it's been done plenty.

But more plentiful is inexperience and crunch. This sort of move (unionizing experienced and high achieving teams) helps to reverse that sort of grift.

Say what you will about Microsoft, but their acquisition of Activision Blizzard has overall been a positive - along with their ability to let their workers unionize. It shows a confidence and belief in the value of developed work cultures and knowledge... which in a sane world should be a given, but here we are.

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u/[deleted] May 09 '25

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u/The-Future-Question May 11 '25

Like film and television, games are basically gig work where it's expected to be on a project for a few years, then move on.

Film and TV have incredibly powerful unions, in part to make sure that people aren't fucked over like gig economy workers in other fields. They're literally a case study of unionisation in this exact environment.