Developer id Software, a Texas-based studio known for the Doom games (including The Game Awards-winning The Dark Ages), has, has formed a union under the Communications Workers of America (CWA). It’s a “wall-to-wall” guild built to protect employees from AI while negotiating for ample benefits, such as remote work, and Microsoft appears to have recognized the studio’s union.
In a press release on the CWA’s website, id Software’s 165-person union will join the CWA Local 6215 division in Richardson, Texas. Producer Andrew Willis noted how important it is for workers to fight back against the injustices facing the games industry at the moment.
“The wall-to-wall organizing effort at id Software was much needed; it’s incredibly important that developers across the industry unite to push back on all the unilateral workplace changes that are being handed down from industry executives,” Willis said. “The union is a way for us, the developers, to take back control of the industry we love and to ensure that it delivers high-quality products from high-quality workers who have health benefits and longevity beyond quarterly profits.”
Senior VFX artist Caroline Pierrot echoed Willis’ sentiments. She said she’s “very proud” to have helped id Software unionize the studio because “more unions means more power to the workers and a real shot at shaping the future of the industry for the better.”
Software lead services programmer Chris Hays–who’s an organizing committee member alongside Pierrot and Willis–chimed in as well. He said remote work “isn’t a perk,” but rather a “necessity for our health, our families, and our access needs.” It’s one of the main pillars for the union: better benefits, remote work opportunities, and AI protections. For all three, as Hays said, the union will make sure that “everyone has a voice in the things that matter most to (id Software).”
While Hays told Aftermath following the successful unionization that he is “really motivated to get protections around remote work and responsible use of AI,” Willis said that Microsoft is insisting on AI’s use while noting that not all of the available technology is terrible.
“There’s definitely a directive from Microsoft to use (AI) more,” Willis said. “In what ways and how careful they’re being about implementing it within the studio to actually benefit the creation of a better game or a more efficient process, I personally don’t think that’s being done in a careful enough way to have it be beneficial.”
In the end, all three–and particularly Wills–believe that this new union will be a positive light in the games industry. Willis told Aftermath that when more studios unionize, more developers stay in the games industry. That point is important because, according to Willis, many of the executives have never shipped a game, and when it comes to something as volatile as games, you need that kind of experience to create games efficiently.
“We see the direction the industry is headed,” said Willis. “The folks that are in charge of a lot of these decision-making processes, it’s a lot of Ivy League MBAs, a lot of folks with zero game experience–not just from the management standpoint, but zero experience in actually making games. (…) I find little evidence of them really enjoying games or playing games personally.”
