The unionization push among workers at Wizards of the Coast is looking to expand to include those who make the Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons, and Duel Masters tabletop games.
"As of this morning, both the Dungeons & Dragons team (which includes the workers behind Dungeons & Dragons and D&D Beyond) and Studio X (which includes the tabletop Magic: The Gathering and Duel Masters teams) informed Wizards of the Coast leadership of our intent to unionize, and called on the company to voluntarily recognize our union," say the workers behind the effort. "We’re calling leadership to voluntarily recognize our union by October 13th, and you can sign our petition to show your support for our efforts."
The union, United Wizards of the Coast, which was formed with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) earlier this year, was created to protect the workers behind the Magic: The Gathering - Arena online game. The main drive behind the now-successful unionization effort was to protect employees from from layoffs and generative AI. Other points the union addressed included remote work protections, a sustainable workload, and defined career progression, as well as protecting its members' own creative output that occurs when off the clock.
The union and would-be union members should the effort prove fruitful are asking Wizards of the Coast to voluntarily recognize our union and engage in good-faith bargaining -- something that proved difficult to do with the company the first time around. In fact, earlier this year when UWOTC was initially forming, Wizards actively tried to persuade its employees against supporting the unionization effort.
"There is so much excitement from our internal teams for this union, not just for the protections it offers us, but for the chance to make our lives and the games we create even better. In preserving our rights and establishing long-awaited protections for our workers, we hope to make all worlds—both the ones we create and the one we live in—better places," says the union.
Both Studio X, which makes Magic: The Gathering and Duel Masters and the Dungeons & Dragons teams have sent separate letters to Wizards of the Coast stating their desire to and reasons to unionize. You can see the letters here:
