Magic: The Gathering Arena staff unionize with CWA, citing forced RTO, AI use, and crunch culture

Over a hundred Wizards of the Coast employees working on Magic: The Gathering Arena have formed a union called United Wizards of the Coast, partnering with the Communications Workers of America (CWA).

The collective includes game designers, programmers, producers, artists, QA staff, and more. The union has some goals in mind, and has already started discussing some issues staff face while working at WotC.

Magic: The Gathering staff unionize with CWA

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) is supporting the formation of United Wizards of the Coast.

The union’s formation comes in response some ongoing issues within Wizards of the Coast, including unfair labor practices, including forced return-to-office mandates, severe pay discrepancies, forced AI use, and ongoing unaddressed crunch.

Speaking to the CWA, some of Magic’s video game adaptations said the following:

“At Wizards, we’re organizing for a say in layoffs, accountability that runs up and down the chain, and a living wage that actually lets people build a life. I’m hopeful about what we can build here and being clear-eyed about why it’s necessary,” said UWOTC-CWA member Damien Wilson, a Senior Software Development Engineer for Magic: The Gathering Arena. 

In a statement published in the United Wizards of the Coast group, its spokesperson said: “Our goal is to protect our workers and their labor. We know it is possible to make great games without mistreating employees,” the union stated. “This has been repeatedly demonstrated by recent union efforts across the industry.”

United Wizards of the Coast represents just one of an ever-increasing number of union efforts in the gaming world. “We are not the first to fight for our rights, and we will not be the last,” the union stated.

It comes at a time when more game-related firms are looking to unionize. There are recent efforts for Activision Blizzard and Microsoft, alongside strong trade union representation in the UK with Rockstar, and in France as well with Ubisoft strike action and Shiro Games with its walkout over December.

Why Wizards of the Coast staff are unionizing now

The unionization effort comes after a turbulent period for Wizards of the Coast and parent company Hasbro. In recent years, WOTC has faced multiple rounds of layoffs as part of Hasbro’s broader cost-cutting measures, with hundreds of positions eliminated across the company.

Workers have also raised concerns about forced return-to-office policies implemented post-pandemic, which many saw as unnecessary given the success of remote work during MTG Arena’s development.

It also comes at a key time where Magic: The Gathering is getting consistent product launches, with the normal set updates, alongside the crossover marketing launches with Fallout, Final Fantasy, Warhammer and many other IPs in recent years.