Update, November 15: This story has been updated with details from the redacted unfair labor complaint filed by the union.
Hundreds of Bethesda video game workers, who work on titles like Fallout 76 and Elder Scrolls, are going on strike across the country. Workers in Maryland and Texas are walking off the job, claiming that the company has failed to address their remote work concerns at the bargaining table, and has begun outsourcing quality assurance work without the union’s agreement.
Bethesda’s ZeniMax, which Microsoft bought in 2021 for $7.5 billion, has been home to the nation’s largest video games union, starting in January 2023 and attracting more than 300 quality assurance workers. While the union has been reluctant to share bargaining updates and said that Microsoft has made progress with it on bargaining, it also said the one-day strike was a necessary step forward, as its requests had gone unanswered. The union filed an unfair labor complaint against ZeniMax in October.
“We respect our employees’ rights to express their point of view as they have done today,” Microsoft spokesperson Becca Dougherty said in an emailed statement. “We will continue to listen and address their concerns at the bargaining table.”
A day before the strike, Rhyanna Eichner, quality assurance test lead, who helps supervise employees who test Bethesda games for bugs, among other tasks, told Inverse that she was excited and looking forward to the “fun event.”
“I know that sounds weird, but we're all really looking forward to coming together and and spending time together,” Eichner said. “Everybody understands that this needs to happen. This is what needs to be done to move on. We're all just kind of ready for it.”
The union is looking to limit the percentage of quality assurance testers the company outsources in comparison to the number of full-time workers present in its bargaining unit. It would not share details on where Microsoft has chosen to outsource labor to.
Microsoft has contracted out quality assurance work since February and in an “ongoing and continuous basis” without consulting the union, according to a copy of the unfair labor document viewed by Inverse.
The union is also seeking a more flexible remote work policy. ZeniMax workers are currently required to go to the office twice a week, and many, the union says, are being denied their remote work requests. Eichner said that the company has repeatedly ignored the union’s remote work proposal.
“They have continually given us their first proposal again and again, and it’s become obvious that our different mobilization tactics have not worked,” Eichner said.
Juniper Dowell, a senior quality assurance tester at Rockville, Maryland, said that several testers would be forced to move or find a new job if they had to come into the office all five days a week because they were hired during recent remote work years under different circumstances.
“Striking isn’t fun or ideal, but there’s a satisfaction in having a concrete physical action we can do to fight for better work conditions,” Dowell said. “Hopefully, we can convince them to stop dragging their feet and meet us at the table.”
Update, November 13: This story has been updated with comment from Microsoft.
