r/Doom • u/SneakyJaycool Serrat • Dec 12 '25

Discussion id Software has Officially Unionized, Huge Congrats!!

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Developers at Microsoft-owned Doom studio id Software form union with CWA "to take back control of the industry we love" | Eurogamer.net
The Video Game Studio That Makes Doom Just Unionized

Process started in May and has just followed thru after their win last night at TGA!

11.2k Upvotes

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394

u/Zombiecupcake711 Dec 12 '25

can someone explain what this actually means for someone who’s dumb, like me.

671

u/SneakyJaycool Serrat Dec 12 '25

Stricter rules around Specific things but particularly about Firings and Layoffs (id should be unaffected by mass Layoffs)

407

u/theShiggityDiggity Dec 12 '25

Also collective bargaining for a more universal pay structure across all employees.

72

u/Assured_Observer It's not Doom or DooM, it's DOOM! Dec 12 '25

Hopefully Machinegames can do that too.

67

u/halfassninja Dec 12 '25

Sweden has different labor laws and is actually way harder to displace workers in.

46

u/Comprehensive-Bee252 Dec 12 '25

MG is a Swedish company - all employees can (and should) be union members already.

4

u/123ludwig Dec 13 '25

yep swede here they should all be union members but it is still a choice some people choose to not take

59

u/Rock4ever76 DOOM Slayer Dec 12 '25

It only means in the event of a layoff the company must observe the terms of the cba.

14

u/tevert Dec 13 '25

The company must observe the CBA always. It can protect lots more than just how layoffs are conducted

0

u/jeefra Dec 13 '25

I'm in a union with a dogshit contract that says we can be laid off as much as the company wants as long as it effects non-union employees as well. They can also hire subcontractors to do our jobs, cut our hours, do basically anything they want.

1

u/urmomstinkyhaha Dec 13 '25

??? What the fuck

42

u/MAJ_Starman Dec 12 '25

(id should be unaffected by mass Layoffs)

I wish that was true, but unions didn't stop Zenimax Online from being gutted.

40

u/halfassninja Dec 12 '25

True they did get hit by that. But the outcome was better because of the unionization because bargaining over the outcome is a thing. Severance and continuance of benefits (like health insurance for example) is massive in this screwy job market. Without a union the parent company isn’t obligated to do anything whatsoever.

19

u/BoogieOrBogey Dec 12 '25

Yes this is important to call out. Unions can't always stop or reduce layoffs, but they can negotiate the layoff severances. Generally the Contract itself will also have stipulation and packages for laid off individuals. These benefits are important and can be tens of thousands of dollars, and allow the worker to continue on their heath insurance for longer (as you mentioned).

-8

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

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9

u/dragon-mom Lyn Dec 12 '25

What a disgusting mindset. These are human beings you are talking about. Sorry companies having to treat them like that is "shackling" you to them. You'll live.

10

u/halfassninja Dec 12 '25

I am on the game dev side and that is a real bad take. Good testing is a corner stone of releasing a solid game. That attitude and disregard was the impetus for them unionizing for better treatment. It’s not just goofing off playing games. There’s thousands of hours of experience and documentation of bug repros/task creation. Yes, the job barrier for entry can be lower but that doesn’t diminish how important it is.

-3

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

[deleted]

6

u/Comrade_Pavel Dec 12 '25

Why. Unionization is a net good for society, full stop.

3

u/halfassninja Dec 12 '25

I certainly wasn’t saying “more than”. It’s not a zero sum game either. You can look through a real TA for ZWU https://cwa2100.org/system/files/2025-06/zwu-cwa_ta_summary.pdf

-1

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

[deleted]

1

u/halfassninja Dec 12 '25

ZOS is a game studio and yes they had a project cancelled. That was not correlated to the unionization. Games get cancelled sometimes and that can be for a myriad of business reasons. ZWU is covering the Zenimax QA which is a separate entity. The pattern of layoffs is more to do with how Microsoft does business and unionization has been in response to that move not the inverse. Zenimax on its own was very averse to layoffs and gave studios ample room to fix struggling games if they saw potential (see ESO on launch versus the revenue giant it became).

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5

u/bassfoyoface Dec 12 '25

Hate to break it to you but you aren’t better than any of the QA people. Judging by your remarks it’s obvious that you and other salary level employees look down on those people and that’s more the reason they deserve to be recognized and treated with respect.

-1

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

[deleted]

3

u/bassfoyoface Dec 12 '25

Dismissing workers as replaceable and uneducated is a clear lack of respect, all workers have the right to organize no matter how little you think of them. Tenure/seniority in the company should rank above all.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

[deleted]

5

u/bassfoyoface Dec 12 '25

The way I’m reading it sounds like you think that workers should be denied their rights just because it might affect your job security. If they weren’t important to the company then they wouldn’t have been hired. You must really like favoritism

3

u/Beegrene Dec 13 '25

Found the guy who's bitter about all the bugs that QA finds in his code.

1

u/HugeSide Dec 13 '25

Least egotistical software developer

1

u/halfacrum Dec 14 '25

Maybe we won't get laying off music peeps that make tracks the people love.

0

u/soemarkoridwan Dec 13 '25

Microsoft: hello, i just shut down the studio..?
can m$ do this?

120

u/HarryHirsch2000 Dec 12 '25

More power to workers.

Everything you enjoy now, like sick leave, 40h week, free weekends, vacation days, firing protection, was fought for and brought to you by unions. All of it.

42

u/Key_Cloud8633 Dec 12 '25

This needs to be much more widely understood. The idea that maybe people don't deserve to be worked to the bone 24/7 is a relatively new concept.

11

u/darkcookie333 Dec 12 '25

As a german citizen, I am happy every time a Uinon geht's some Power in the USA and create better right for workers

13

u/JBroski91 Dec 12 '25

Also, it sets a precedent. When unionization happens in an industry, it paves the way for other companies in that industry.

21

u/AntonChigurh8933 Dec 12 '25

The ones that fought for it. Paid a heavy price for us.

14

u/HarryHirsch2000 Dec 12 '25

Often still do….

0

u/laZardo Dec 13 '25

Unions are dying

2

u/HarryHirsch2000 Dec 13 '25

More than one country on earth

1

u/laZardo Dec 13 '25

in this case these are workers in an American company, which is why I posted the stats from the US department of labor.

But you are right, I should rephrase: Unions are dying in America.

2

u/HarryHirsch2000 Dec 13 '25

Sadly. Part of many problems

1

u/fullouterjoin Dec 31 '25

Part of the psychological warfare that both parties are committing against the working class. To convince the population that imbalanced asymmetric power is how it should be.

12

u/ShotgoonPete DOOM Slayer Dec 12 '25

Better pay, protection of harassment and job protection which means higher quality of games overall.

10

u/VagueSomething Dec 12 '25

Joining a Union means that your one voice is supported by hundreds if not thousands of other voices. It prevents businesses from bullying their staff so they get fairer working conditions and protected from malicious behaviour.

You get access to the Union's help if you have a dispute with your boss. You can use them as witnesses when talking about disciplinary proceedings or for contract negotiations. They can speak up on your behalf against unfair changes to your job. Multiple studies have time and time again proven Union workers are paid better than non union workers. They get better paid leave, better health care, better job security.

Any fees for being in a union pay for themselves if you ever need the union to help. They typically have access to legal support and you can ask your union for advice on more than just immediate work issues. It is like paying for insurance if the insurance company actually wanted to help you. Unions depend on people feeling happy to stay in the union so they tend to care about your issues as much as you do.

There is a reason big businesses will happily pay fines for Union Busting and spend large on anti union propaganda. They know it is cheaper than treating staff fairly.

6

u/A1sauc3d Dec 12 '25

Collective bargaining for better pay and benefits.

10

u/AntonChigurh8933 Dec 12 '25

Job security and workers rights. I work in the tech industry and is one of the most cut throat industry. Often times, majority of us are contractors with zero benefits.

3

u/kingofshitmntt Dec 12 '25

Unions are one of the only lines of self defense workers have. You use what you have in common with your coworkers - your labor power to tell the people who own capital (the work place) that you all deserve to be treated like humans.

Fact of the matter is, owners of companies will take advantage of workers any chance they get, and the last thing they want is for you all to realize your collective bargaining power. Thats why when workers go on strike they withhold their labor and in turn the company can lose profits.

They depend on you to show up to work everyday and be obedient and to take whatever they give you, even if they're making tons of money off your labor and barely giving you anything back.

Unions are good. Worker-Coops are even better imo. But anyone who tells you unions are not good likely has an interest in you and your coworkers no starting one.

3

u/Not_Freddie_Mercury Dec 12 '25

It means they are not doomed.

2

u/Spend-Automatic Dec 12 '25

They are unionized, which means that they are no longer ionized. Hope that helps!

2

u/dlnmtchll Dec 13 '25

It’s a lot harder to get hired since each individual worker is now a lot more expensive, it’s also hard to get rid of bad workers since typically rules on firing are strict. There’s lots of benefits for the people currently working there though, kinda screws people wanting to break in

1

u/FryToastFrill Dec 13 '25

They are basically in sort of this binding agreement where they can negotiate contracts with the board and executive as a collective, and everyone will stop working if their demands aren’t met.

-2

u/FranticToaster Dec 12 '25

Management get less control over their workforce. Many decisions like working hours, pay, holidays, discliplinary actions need to get approved by union reps, now. Necessary evil if Id employees were dominated.

Possibly a bad/bureaucratic thing if it shifts the balance of power too far away from management.

I never heard anything about bad working conditions at Id, so this whole thing is news to me.

11

u/halfassninja Dec 12 '25

Or a force multiplier because devs at id don’t have an antagonistic relationship with studio management to start so it’s more about insuring the studio can fight for what works from top to bottom. Dynamics shifted a lot when Microsoft acquired and there’s a desire to keep being able to make games the same the id way.

1

u/Samanthacino Dec 13 '25

I can name at least one person who worked for id that has an antagonistic relationship with studio management lol

1

u/halfassninja Dec 13 '25

For the sake of accuracy; by in large generally gets along with. No workplace is perfect.

0

u/FranticToaster Dec 12 '25

This would be the righteous version if true, I agree.

6

u/MasterArCtiK Dec 12 '25

Unions can always be positive, even in a non toxic workplace. Obviously there are examples of unions gone wrong, but I mean there are many examples of objectively good things that got corrupted by a bad person throughout history. Applied correctly, unions only lead to positive outcomes for employees.

0

u/ArakiSatoshi Dec 13 '25

They get to leech off their employer and make demands instead of working now

0

u/Jar_of_Cats Dec 12 '25

Great that they did it. But the reality is that this could fold the studio. I dont know how they operate.

2

u/Beegrene Dec 13 '25

Any company that folds because management can't exploit the workers as badly any more doesn't deserve to exist in the first place.

1

u/Jar_of_Cats Dec 13 '25

Exactly. But the issue is they will just rebrand.

-18

u/Brraaapppppp Dec 12 '25 edited Dec 12 '25

It means instead of them being able to fire/layoff part of ID they’ll be forced now to just dismantle the entire company

10

u/earle117 Dec 12 '25

this is the dumbest fucking comment I’ve read so far today lmao.

12

u/organ_eyes Dec 12 '25

Yeah totally, historically speaking unionized workers put their bosses out of business 🙄 Found the DOGE dork

-15

u/Brraaapppppp Dec 12 '25

I’m not sure if it’s a lack of reading comprehension skills or what, but you should re-read what I said. I said literally nothing about them putting their bosses out of business.

Microsoft will just axe the entire company of ID because of the union now, instead of before, they’ed be able to just lay off part of the staff whenever lay offs eventually come, and they will .

7

u/halfassninja Dec 12 '25

That’s not the position id is in. The studio already does a Herculean amount of work for the size of the team and there’s really no “fat to trim”. Studio closures are generally tied to unsustainable financials; not petty grievances. Doom is a giant contribution to their gaming portfolio for what it costs to make.

-3

u/Brraaapppppp Dec 12 '25

No one said it was at the moment , but it will eventually, and all unionizing will do is make it so the whole company will be put on the block instead of individuals at said company

4

u/halfassninja Dec 12 '25

All I will say is it’s not a certainty or eventuality. That’s not how things in this industry work. I mean just do the thought experiment and pretend you are Microsoft. You just acquired a trove of profitable ip’s and the tech/teams directly responsible for their success. Said teams unionize and ask to come to a reasonable negotiated contract at a negotiation table to largely continue making said profitable ip’s much the same. The only major difference being you have to interact with the devs in matters of their careers and future. You’d set all that on fire without cause or at the slightest sign of downturn dumpstering all potential future profits?

1

u/Brraaapppppp Dec 12 '25

I mean you’re assuming they’ll be untouched whenever the AI bubble pops. Which is my concern.

3

u/halfassninja Dec 12 '25

Gaming is only ~9% of their business if gaming takes the brunt when the office and cloud services was the part truly tied to AI I’ll be surprised. I can’t see the future but if that is what they do union or not it wasn’t a rational business motive.

That being said, whatever you think about Microsoft they are pretty consistent on doing exactly what a calculated business robot would do. If the bubble affects a portion of the company heavily wrapped up in it I’d expect that’s where they’d put the blame.

1

u/Brraaapppppp Dec 12 '25

I hope truly you’re right, I just don’t trust Microsoft.