Blizzard unions secure major contract for 1,900 workers

Blizzard Entertainment unions have secured a contract that covers 1,900 workers, according to a report. The agreement provides workers protections related to layoffs, pay, remote work, and more.

Blizzard workers secure union contract for WoW, Diablo, and more

According to Aftermath, the contract covers unionized teams working on World of Warcraft (WoW), Overwatch, Diablo, Hearthstone, Warcraft Rumble, and so on. In a message to the publication, World of Warcraft senior game designer Paul Cox revealed that Blizzard Entertainment workers had recently come together as one unit.

“We really started mobilizing as one Blizzard unit in [the] last couple of months, and I think that really helped put the pressure on,” Cox said.

Senior environment artist Mahreen Fatima shared that the Diablo team received few bargaining dates, but believed that the WoW team’s wins would help set the standard for other teams.

“We adopted this messaging about how WoW’s wins are our wins, so we should be out there mobilizing with them,” Fatima said. “But truly, I feel like the company dragged its feet and did a lot of posturing and wasting time until the very, very last moment this last month to finally be able to say, ‘Okay, yes, we are willing to extend this contract to everyone.’ We really did not have any indication that we could get this done until last month.” 

What’s included in Blizzard’s new union contract

According to the report, the agreement includes strong layoff protections. That is, employees get at least four weeks of severance pay and an additional week for every six months they worked at the company. The severance package can reach a maximum of 39 weeks.

Workers can also return to Blizzard Entertainment for up to 14 months after a layoff if a suitable position becomes available. Employees can apply for open jobs they qualify for, and these include jobs outside of their original team.

“It’s not just recall rights into your unit; it’s recall rights into any job that you would be qualified for,” Cox explained. “So if WoW has a bunch of layoffs, but Diablo doesn’t, and Diablo is looking to expand, the folks who are laid off from WoW can get recalled into Diablo if they’re qualified, which has definitely never happened in our industry before, and is very rare to see just in general. So we are really excited about that.”

The contract gives workers more protection against being fired without a valid reason as well. This is in addition to protecting current remote and hybrid work arrangements from sudden changes, minimum salaries ranging from $51,840 to $70,400, and giving employees a say in how artificial intelligence (AI) affects them.

The contract was secured shortly before the start of BlizzCon 2026.