As reported by Communications Workers of America (CWA) it seems that 450 Blizzard employees, specifically those who are working on Blizzard’s Diablo series, have decided to unionize, allowing them some protection against the state of the industry itself.

It’s no secret that the video game industry bubble is bursting a bit, it feels like every other week or so we’re reporting on a story of a company “downsizing” their staff i.e. firing a massive amount of developers, artists, and other workers who’ve spent years on their respective projects because the amount of success a AAA game demands is insanely high and nigh impossible to reach. In unionizing under the CWA the Diablo team can enjoy at least a bit of insurance in case their particular bubble decides to burst as well.

Of course, a potential layoff isn’t the only reason they’ve decided to unionize. As Ryan Littleton, Diablo game designer, stated in the CWA article:

…A union allows us to organize across the industry to make great games and protect the developers who create them from the constant pressures of layoffs, passion tax, and crunch.

Crunch is definitely one of the most prevalent killers of passion in the industry, and the combination of staying late and working late hours developing and polishing something you love only to be let go at the end of the development cycle is the kind of soul crushing sequence of events that pushes talented young workers out of the gaming industry, so good on the Diablo team for being preemptive in their actions and affording themselves relief under the CWA.

With this, the Diablo team join the Story and Development workers from Blizzard that also decided to unionize under the CWA. The CWA themselves have been making great inroads in the game development field, securing several unions in the industry. Hopefully working conditions within video games can continue to progress to a point where the pressure of losing your job and losing your sleep doesn’t squish your heads from both sides like a vice.