OVER 250 EMPLOYEES at Bethesda Game Studios – the company behind the popular Elder Scrolls and Fallout series – have announced they will be unionising. 

The move makes Bethesda the first “wall-to-wall” union – all employees are union members – under parent company Microsoft. Microsoft purchased Bethesda in 2021.

The group are represented by the Campaign to Organise Digital Employees (CODE), a section of the larger Communications Workers of America (CWA).

“We are so excited to announce our union at Bethesda Game Studio and join the movement sweeping across the video game industry. It is clear that every worker can benefit from bringing democracy into the workplace and securing a protected voice on the job. We’re thrilled to get…

— CODE-CWA (@CODE_CWA) July 19, 2024

Mandi Parker, Senior System Designer and CWA member, said that the employees were excited to join the unionisation effort sweeping across the industry.

“It is clear that every worker can benefit from bringing democracy into the workplace and securing a protected voice on the job. We’re thrilled to get down to brass tacks and win a fair contract, proving that our unity is a source of real power to positively shape our working conditions, our lives, and the company as a whole,” she said in a statement.

Microsoft have already recognised the union, and the next step is the negotiation of a contract between the company and union representatives.