About 180 employees at Blizzard Entertainment in Irvine voted to unionize on Tuesday.
The employees are part of Blizzard’s Story and Franchise Development, according to the Communication Workers of America.
The company is behind some of the most popular video games, including Call of Duty, Warcraft, Overwatch, and Candy Crush. But Alison Veneto, a senior editor at Blizzard who is part of the union, told KNX News’ Emily Valdez that there’s been some instability at the company in recent years.
“A lot of leadership changes, and there were some big layoffs,” she said. “That really motivated people to get a contract so that we can put in some stability for ourselves and so that we'll know no matter what, going forward, that we have certain rights and protections.”
John Giarratana, a cinematic producer, said that while people love what they do, they need job security.
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“The biggest hurdle to the joy that we bring to our craft is feeling unsafe and feeling like we are going to lose our jobs at any given moment,” he said.
In a press release, CWA officials said that Microsoft, Blizzard’s parent company, has recognized their union.
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