San Francisco (awp/afp) – Hundreds of employees at ZeniMax, the studio behind the video game Fallout, went on strike on Wednesday to protest the outsourcing of certain tasks and the lack of work options remotely, according to a message posted online by their union.
“Today we are on strike,” ZeniMax Workers United said on X (formerly Twitter).
“We are not afraid to do what is necessary to bring Microsoft to the negotiating table on (these) key issues.”
The branch of the CWA (Communication Workers of America) union said that hundreds of ZeniMax employees in Maryland (northeast United States) and Texas (south) were on strike all day to “tell Microsoft to stop dragging our feet” when it comes to employees’ demands for job security and improved working conditions.
Microsoft acquired ZeniMax Media for $7.5 billion in 2021, marking a major expansion of its Xbox division that gave it ownership of several successful franchises. ZeniMax is the parent company of Bethesda Softworks, publisher of the Fallout and Elder Scrolls franchises.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request from AFP.
Bethesda Game Studios employees joined the CWA in July after complaining about grueling workloads and lack of job security.
They joined “a wave of workers” who have unionized in the video game industry, according to the CWA, which has members at Activision Blizzard (publisher of Call of Duty also bought by Microsoft), ZeniMax, Tender Claws and SEGA of America.
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