Former Blizzard Developer and ArenaNet, Undead Labs Founder: “We Need Unionization”

By Kevin Colleran On Aug 2, 2021

Jeff Strain, a former senior Blizzard employee and co-founder of ArenaNet and founder of Undead Labs, has written a letter advocating for unionization within the games industry and has invited his employees to unionize themselves with his full endorsement.

Following IGN’s reporting on the unfolding situation at Activision Blizzard in the wake of a bombshell lawsuit, Strain shared a letter he has sent to his employees at his new company to IGN with permission to publish in full below.

Titled, “It’s Time,” Strain — who joined Blizzard in 1996 as a game programmer before working on StarCraft, Diablo, and briefly as team lead and lead programmer on World of Warcraft — shared that the recent lawsuit against Blizzard did not surprise him and that even as early in the company’s history its culture ultimately drove him to leave and co-found ArenaNet.

“The Activision Blizzard disclosures this week have left me disgusted and repulsed — but not at all surprised,” Strain writes. “I joined a very early stage Blizzard as a game programmer in 1996 when there were several dozen employees.”

Strain recounts how in 1998 “after a cataclysmic meeting with one of the founders over our objections to dismembered and impaled female body parts in the beta version of Diablo, my wife and I began planning to leave Blizzard. Ultimately, I joined with a few like-minded colleagues and moved a thousand miles away from the Blizzard sphere of influence to start an independent studio.”

Strain says over his 25-year career similar stories from developers within the industry have been a constant cycle and that these are chronic issues within the games industry. To this end, Strain has called for unionization.

“I’m an entrepreneur, and a veteran of three successful independent studio start ups. I’m highly familiar with the financial, legal, contractual, and organizational aspects of game development. I also know that I have nothing to fear from unionization, nor does any company that pays employees fairly and equitably, provides quality health insurance, models respect and civility for female, POC, LGBTQ+ employees, and supports a healthy, whole life.”

“It’s Time,” a letter to the video game industry

Here’s Strain’s letter in full

It’s Time

“Toxic” is a word so frequently used today that in some ways it has lost the true power and force of the word. We increasingly treat the word flippantly, sometimes even playfully. There are some situations, people, and institutions that simply can’t be brushed off with “toxic” and instead must be described more accurately: abusive, cruel, abhorrent, unacceptable, illegal.

The Activision Blizzard disclosures this week have left me disgusted and repulsed — but not at all surprised. I joined a very early stage Blizzard as a game programmer in 1996, when there were several dozen employees. I knew the three founders and senior leadership well, and hosted frequent dinners with them in my home. Over the next four years, I worked on the earliest versions of most of Blizzard’s iconic titles including StarCraft and Diablo, and I was briefly the team lead and lead programmer of World of Warcraft.

In 1998, after a cataclysmic meeting with one of the founders over our objections to dismembered and impaled female body parts in the beta version of Diablo, my wife and I began planning to leave Blizzard. Ultimately, I joined with a few like-minded colleagues and moved a thousand miles away from the Blizzard sphere of influence to start an independent studio.

My time at Blizzard left an indelible mark on my life and career that continues to this day. Most importantly, it showed me how abusive cultures can propagate and self-amplify over time; how “hardcore gamers only” is a smokescreen for “bro culture”; how fostering a sense of exceptionalism inhibits people from speaking up because they should just deal with it if they love the company and its games; and how passive leadership that turns a blind eye can ultimately be the most abusive thing of all.

I have attempted to create a healthier, more decent, more supportive environment in each of the studios I have started since leaving Blizzard. None of them were perfect, but I’ve tried to learn and improve each time. I’ve become increasingly careful in my hiring and selective in my choice of financial and publishing partners to give these healthier environments the greatest chance to flourish. At the end of the day, though, my studios employ at most a few hundred people. As we have seen through the disclosures this week, independent studios, even with the best intentions, cannot set the standards for the industry. The tone and tenor of the entire industry is set by the giants, the places with the largest number of entry-level jobs, and the places with the largest, most profitable titles.

During my 25 years working alongside talented developers, I’ve heard hundreds of profoundly disturbing stories about their industry experiences. I’ve also seen this cycle repeat itself numerous times, across multiple companies throughout our industry. There has certainly been some positive change, and I do believe many developers and publishers — even large ones — are working in good faith to improve. But those efforts, while commendable, can’t address the chronic issues in our industry systemically. In order to do that, game industry employees need advocacy and representation.

We need unionization.

Unions were started in this country to protect workers from abusive, cruel, abhorrent, unacceptable and illegal treatment from companies. That’s their entire purpose. If this week does not show us that our industry colleagues — even the most entry-level QA tester — need true support and baseline protection, I can’t imagine how much worse it will have to get.

I’m an entrepreneur, and a veteran of three successful independent studio start ups. I’m highly familiar with the financial, legal, contractual, and organizational aspects of game development. I also know that I have nothing to fear from unionization, nor does any company that pays employees fairly and equitably, provides quality health insurance, models respect and civility for female, POC, LGBTQ+ employees, and supports a healthy, whole life. It seems simple, but we clearly need help with it. The giants of this industry have shown us this week that we cannot trust them to moderate and manage the wealth and power that players and fans have given them.

I welcome my employees to unionize, and I’m giving my full endorsement and support to an industry wide adoption of unions. I also encourage the leadership of game-industry companies, large and small, corporate and independent, to join me in endorsing and advocating for unionization as a concrete, actionable step toward improving our industry. As a studio owner, I’ll roll up my sleeves and work with union organizers in a spirit of collaboration. I greatly look forward to the day when the joy and love for what we create for our players is reflected in our workplaces for all employees.

Jeff Strain

New Orleans

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Credit: Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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