Game developers at Wizards of the Coast, the studio behind the digital version of the popular card game Magic: The Gathering, are seeking to unionize with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The workers announced their intention on Monday, citing concerns over artificial intelligence, layoffs, and remote work protections.
Unionization Effort Gains Supermajority Support
More than 100 game designers, programmers, producers, artists, and other employees at the Renton, Washington-based studio will be represented by the bargaining unit. The workers claim to have a supermajority of support and are requesting voluntary recognition from management. However, they have also filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board, offering to withdraw the petition if they are voluntarily recognized by 1 May.
The unionization effort comes after several rounds of layoffs at Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast's parent company. In March 2025, about 30 employees were laid off, following a significant reduction of 1,100 workers across Hasbro in December 2023.
Key Issues Driving Unionization
Workers have identified several key issues driving the unionization effort, including protections against layoffs, remote work safeguards, generative AI protections for employees, sustainable workloads, and defined career progression paths.
Rogue Kessler, a designer at the studio, explained that the unionization push accelerated in response to a recent return-to-office mandate. Remote workers are being told they must relocate to Washington state or lose their jobs.
“We have people living all over the country, and many of those folks were hired remotely in the first place. They’ve never been to Washington. They’ve never lived here, and now they’re being told all of a sudden that they need to move to Seattle, uproot their families, sell their homes and relocate here in two years or lose their job,” Kessler said. “We’ve had a few rounds of layoffs here at Hasbro and Wizards, and so that’s something that has a lot of us very spooked as well. We want to see some robust protections there.”
Valentine Powell, a software engineer at the studio, added that management has been unresponsive to these concerns. “They just aren’t working with the people who are on the ground level and so unionization is our best effort to try and rectify that,” Powell stated.
AI Concerns and Impact on Game Quality
The union is also pushing for protections and guardrails around the use of artificial intelligence. Powell argued that AI has consistently delivered worse results for the product. “When it comes to the product that we’re trying to make, I believe that AI has consistently shown worse results. It takes longer and it just sort of harms the end product,” Powell said.
Powell warned that if initiatives like the return-to-office mandate are enforced, the studio could lose many skilled artists, developers, and workers. “What I would like to say to our players is the people who make your game love making it. The co-workers that I’ve had here are some of the most dedicated to trying to make a really, really outstanding game and trying to make their players happy and keep those lines of communication open. And it’s those people that we’re very likely to lose if some of the initiatives go forward,” Powell said. “I really believe unionization is the only thing that’s going to save the games industry.”
After the public announcement, Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro were contacted for comment but did not immediately respond.
