Microsoft has recognized a union for the first time in the company’s 47-year history, after a “supermajority” of quality assurance workers at video game publisher ZeniMax Studios – which is owned by Microsoft and partly based in Rockville and Hunt Valley, Md., voted to unionize with the Communications Workers Of America.

“We’re thrilled to kick off 2023 in a workplace that’s stronger and more equitable than it was last year. This is an empowering victory that allows us to protect ourselves and each other in a way we never could without a union. Our hope and belief is that this is the year in which game workers across the country exercise their power and reshape the industry as a whole,” said Rockville-worker Skylar Hinnant in a statement.

Video game testers at ZeniMax Studios indicated that they wished to join the ZeniMax Workers United/Communications Workers of America by signing union cards or by voting online from Dec. 2 through Dec. 31. The studio is best known for producing the popular video game series Fallout, Elder Scrolls, Doom, and Quake Champions. In 2020, Microsoft purchased the Maryland-based company for an estimated $7.5 billion.

“Microsoft has lived up to its commitment to its workers to let them decide for themselves whether they want a union,” said CWA President Chris Shelton in a statement. “Other video game and tech giants have made a conscious choice to attack, undermine, and demoralize their own employees when they join together to form a union. Microsoft is charting a different course which will strengthen its corporate culture and ability to serve its customers and should serve as a model for the industry and as a blueprint for regulators.”

Microsoft announced in June that it would adopt new principles to respect employees’ legal right to unionize. The company also announced that it would remain neutral and allow employees to work through the unionization process without interference. When asked to comment on the outcome of the union vote, a spokesperson for Microsoft and ZeniMax said that they are looking forward to the the next steps.

“In light of the results of the recent unionization vote, we recognize the Communications Workers of America (CWA) as the bargaining representative for the Quality Assurance employees at ZeniMax. We look forward to engaging in good faith negotiations as we work towards a collective bargaining agreement” said the representative in a statement to DCist/WAMU.

The organizing to form a union at the end of 2020. During that time, Microsoft announced that it would try to acquire Activision Blizzard – which owns the Call of Duty franchise, among other popular titles – for roughly $69 billion. In 2021, allegations of sexual misconduct at Activision Blizzard kicked off a wave of walkouts and calls for workplace reform throughout the video game industry.

Wayne Dayberry, a senior quality assurance tester and union organizer in Rockville, says the union’s victory is a welcome development in an industry that has long relied on crunch culture and making workers feel replaceable. He’s previously worked on popular video game titles such as Fallout 76 and the Evil Within series.

“We’re a big part of the process – us here in Rockville and in any QA department in the industry,” Dayberry told DCist/WAMU. “But it’s kind of like any other job. You’re not lucky to have the job, the job’s lucky to have you. And we just want that recognition and the dignity that goes along with it.”

According to a representative at the CWA, which represents thousands of workers in telecommunications and media, the union will consist of more than 300 members – making it one of the largest unions of workers at any major U.S. video game studio.