cwa
Zenimax Online Studios union reaffirms support for Blackbird devs as workers roast Xbox execs over AI slop
The splash damage from Microsoft's decision to gut its games division, especially the developers behind Zenimax Online Studios' formerly in-development MMO Project Blackbird, is...
Insiders detail gameplay for Blackbird, the ‘f’ing incredible’ Zenimax MMO that Microsoft killed off
The 9,000 workers shed from Microsoft's games division saw not only massive losses in terms of workers, the end of content updates for other...
Microsoft’s Xbox division faces the possibility of significant layoffs soon – again
"Microsoft" and "layoffs" are never strangers to each other in headlines, as the megacorp has been known to ruthlessly cull its worker base, presumably...
The MOP Up: AdventureQuest 3D has character slots in the works
It may be too strange to believe, but AdventureQuest 3D doesn't have multiple character slots -- yet. That's about to change, as the studio...
ZeniMax QA workers reach tentative contract agreement with Microsoft after nearly two years
We've been periodically reporting in on the efforts of ZeniMax Workers United-CWA - that's the union that represents QA workers who work on titles...
Overwatch devs join Communication Workers of America to officially form a ‘wall-to-wall’ union
The unionization movement across Blizzard's developers has expanded once more, this time across those who work on the hero shooter Overwatch. The Communication Workers...
MMO Business Roundup: Microsoft stonewalls ZeniMax union, Electronic Arts lays off hundreds
Welcome back to another quick roundup of some MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news of the week! It's business time in Hollis, Queens, but it's...
ZeniMax Workers United, the Fallout and Elder Scrolls QA union, has voted to authorize a strike
"Hundreds" of games workers at ZeniMax Media have voted to authorize a strike against parent company Microsoft after "nearly" two years of negotiations, according...
The MOP Up: Final Fantasy XI is worth a second look after two decades
The second part of an interview with famed manga artist Mamoru Nagano is out, in which he talks about what he likes about Final...
The Game Archaeologist’s ultimate MMO archives, 2024 edition
While MMORPGs constitute a shifting, ever-evolving market, their history remains surprisingly evergreen. That's what history is: Facts and stories stamped and preserved for our...
Happy holidays: 461 Elder Scrolls Online studio developers just unionized
Bethsoft has one union, yes. What about *second* union? In fact, this is more like third union, and we're not sorry to see it.
Readers...
MMO Business Roundup: Lockboxes, SAG-AFTRA, child safety, and another ABK union rally
Welcome back to another roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry news! It's a bit of good news and bad news this time around, so...
Blizzard’s World of Warcraft team just formed a wall-to-wall multidisciplinary WoWGG union
Man, it's been a long, long time coming, but Blizzard Entertainment workers have finally formed a wall-to-wall union, specifically meaning that it includes everyone...
Devs from multiple Bethesda offices formally create a ‘wall to wall’ union of over 200 workers
The unionization movement among video game developers has taken yet another large step forward this weekend, as workers from Bethesda Game Studios offices located...
MMO Business Roundup: Activision owned cheatmaker EngineOwning
Welcome back to another quick roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent business news! Business business business and all that.
EngineOwning got owned - File this one...
The newly recognized Activision QA United is now the biggest union in the US games industry
Yet another group of Activision-Blizzard workers under Microsoft have voted to unionize: a reported 600 Activision central QA workers in Texas, Minnesota, and California...
Perfect Ten: MMORPGs with interesting Guinness World Records
I never quite know how much stock to put in Guinness World Records. I guess it's somewhere between "for amusement value" and "stone cold...
The Game Archaeologist’s ultimate MMO archives v7.0
Once again we put a wrap on another year of MMORPG news, opinions, and -- most pertinent to this column -- history. In a...
MMO Business Roundup: NetEase’s Worlds Untold, Embracer, Ubisoft, unionization, and Epic v. Google
Welcome back to another quick roundup of MMO and MMO-adjacent industry and business news. Numbers numbers numbers!
NetEase - The Chinese megacorp NetEase just can't...
Microsoft reaffirms its neutrality agreement with CWA union following Activision-Blizzard buyout
With everything swirling around the events of Microsoft's $69B buyout of Activision-Blizzard, it might have been easy to forget that during the proceedings, Microsoft...
