Canada’s first unionized game developers on strike

Edmonton – October 26, 2023 – UFCW Local 401 members and Canada’s first unionized game developers working at Keyword Studios in Edmonton are on strike.

The workers at Keywords Studios were laid off in September amidst negotiations to achieve a first collective agreement. The team had joined UFCW Canada in Summer 2022 – making history by becoming the first ever workers in Canada’s videogame industry to form a union in their workplace.

The team had previously worked on quality assurance and testing for industry heavyweight BioWare, owned by Electronic Arts. At the time of unionizing workers cited low wages, lack of benefits such as sick pay, and more.

“The videogame industry is wrought with poor working conditions including instances of work weeks of up to 80 hours or more for extended periods of time,” says UFCW Canada Local 401 President Thomas Hesse. “As long as this is the case, more workers will continue to unionize. This strike is a fight for all workers in the videogame industry and it is about holding the company to account rather than allowing them to abandon the collective bargaining process.”

The workers kicked off the strike with a rally held outside of BioWare’s Edmonton studios and were joined by union allies from across the labour movement.

You can take action and support the striking workers by sending a message to the CEOs of Keywords Studios, BioWare, and Electronic Arts calling for fairness for their unionized staff here.