Blizzard studio halts union plans amid alleged management meddling - Ars Technica

Today, though, the Communication Workers of America is pulling back on its push for a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election that could have forced parent company Activision Blizzard to recognize that union.

In a statement provided to Ars Technica, a CWA spokesperson said Sivak "chose to follow Activision Blizzard's lead and responded to the workers' desire to form a union with confrontational tactics."

Proletariat Software Engineer Dustin Yost said in an accompanying statement that those management meetings "took their toll" on the group by "fram[ing] the conversation as a personal betrayal, instead [of] respecting our right to join together to protect ourselves and have a seat at the table..."

Last May, QA testers at Activision Blizzard studio Raven Software won a similar NLRB election to become the first fully recognized union in the US game industry.

In response to a request for comment, Activision Blizzard VP of Media Relations Joe Christinat said that the company "welcomed the opportunity for each employee to safely express their preferences through a confidential vote.

After launching the clever magic-based battle royale game Spellbreak in 2020, Proletariat was purchased by Activision Blizzard last June and transitioned to making content for World of Warcraft.