Workers at Bethesda parent company strike over remote work policies

The members of ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, one of the largest video game unions in the United States, have gone on strike. The action involves workers in ZeniMax offices in Texas and Maryland, who do quality assurance work for games including Fallout and Elder Scrolls. Workers are striking over claims that ZeniMax leadership has failed to address employee issues regarding remote work and outsourcing.

“Today, we are on strike,” ZeniMax Workers United posted on X. “We are not afraid to do what’s necessary to make sure that Microsoft meets us at the bargaining table over key issues like remote work options and outsourcing.”

Remote work policies seem to be a major sticking point for Microsoft’s video game unions. In the immediate outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, many video game companies instituted flexible work-from-home policies that they’ve recently begun rolling back. In October of this year, Activision Quality Assurance United held a rally outside their offices in Texas, California, and Minnesota to protest Microsoft’s restrictive return-to-office policy that, according to workers, failed to accommodate workers with medical issues or doctor recommendations. The Communications Workers of America (CWA), the organizing committee that supports ZeniMax Workers United along with multiple video game unions in the US, has also filed an unfair labor complaint with the National Labor Relations Board over contracting out work without notifying the union.

There have been several video game-related strikes in the US in recent year. In 2021, workers at Raven Software — a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard before its eventual acquisition by Microsoft — participated in a walkout that turned into a five-week strike after several employee contracts were not renewed. After that strike, workers at Raven Software organized and won one of the first video game unions at a AAA game publisher in the country.

In July of this year, voice actors and motion performers covered under SAG-AFTRA’s interactive media agreement went on strike to protest worker protections regarding AI. While SAG-AFTRA and the video game companies that make up the interactive media agreement bargaining committee have returned to the negotiation table, the strike continues.

ZeniMax Workers United strike will not last as long as SAG-AFTRA’s or Raven Software’s, with workers striking today until 6PM ET. In a statement to The Verge, Microsoft spokesperson Becca Dougherty wrote, “We respect our employees’ rights to express their point of view as they have done today. We will continue to listen and address their concerns at the bargaining table.”