A group of 144 workers is forming a union at SEGA’s US headquarters in Irvine, California. SEGA follows in the footsteps of the workers of other game companies such as Microsoft ZeniMax and Activision Blizzardwhich both unionized last year.
The gaming giant behind franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog and Total War, SEGA has yet to voluntarily acknowledge the merger or respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment. If SEGA does not recognize the union, eligible workers can hold an election through the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB); workers hope this vote will pass as there are only about 170 eligible workers and a large majority have already joined the union.
The SEGA union stands out from its peers in the burgeoning gaming industry labor movement as it spans all departments. Union members, who organized through the Communications Workers of America (CWA), work in marketing, product design, localization, quality control and more.
Em Geiger, a temporary localization editor who has been at SEGA since 2018, believes the union was able to unite various departments because workers were given the chance to connect with their peers across disciplines.
“There are opportunities for different departments to mingle and get to know each other,” Geiger told TechCrunch, citing examples such as “everyone’s cheer” meetings, where employees are encouraged to publicly acknowledge their coworkers’ accomplishments. “This has gone from wanting to improve the workplace we find ourselves in to wanting to make sure that our coworkers and friends in all departments are treated better than they currently are.”
Geiger says this unionization effort has been in the works for a long time and was not a direct response to union efforts at other game companies. However, successful union efforts in other studies have been affirmative.
“It certainly inspired confidence, seeing so many other gaming companies finally assert their organizing rights and go public with their efforts,” they said. “We are very fortunate to be riding this wave of people who are starting to show more support for the idea of unions in general.”
The union, known as AEGIS (Allied Employees Guild Improving SEGA), advocates for a higher base salary, better benefits like health care, retirement and remote work options, clearer opportunities for advancement and increased staffing to combat excess work and exhaustion. The concept of “crunch,” or working extreme hours to meet a deadline to release a game, is endemic to the gaming industry, fueling this sudden unionization move at the studios.
Microsoft, which is home to many gaming divisions, has a legally binding labor neutrality agreement, which means it won’t get in the way of union organizing. This is not the norm in the technological realm. Activision Blizzard, which is expected to become part of Microsoft if its fusion is not blocked by the government, the NLRB has determined that it has retaliated illegally against unionized workers.
When it comes to SEGA, temporary QA tester Winry Ramsey, who has been in the role since August, isn’t quite sure how the company will respond.
“It’s too early to talk about that,” Ramsey told TechCrunch. “I’m just excited about the amount of public support we already have.”
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