Double Fine workers unionize in the face of major Xbox strategy shifts

Double Fine, the Xbox-owned studio behind Psychonauts 2, Kiln, and Keeper, is unionizing. This unionization process comes just a couple of months after Asha Sharma took over as the new CEO of Xbox, suggesting that more Xbox workers are looking for protections in the face of some major shifts in strategy.

Aftermath spotted that Double Fine had filed a petition to unionize with the National Labor Relations Board on May 7. The union will include all 42 of the studio’s full-time and part-time employees and is being organized with the help of Communications Workers of America.

In a statement to Aftermath, CWA explained that the studio is forming a union to “preserve and extend the studio’s commitments to creative excellence, diversity and inclusion, and worker quality of life.” Several other teams within Xbox-owned studios, such as Blizzard Entertainment, Raven Software, and ZeniMax Online Studios, have unionized over the past few years. As of now, CWA says that Microsoft has taken “a neutral approach and agreed not to interfere in any way with worker’s [sic.] rights to organize unions.”

Double Fine’s unionization is notable given the studio’s unique place within Xbox Game Studios and recent leadership changes in Microsoft’s gaming efforts. Asha Sharma took over as the new CEO of Xbox in February and has already made some sweeping changes, such as removing Call of Duty from Xbox Game Pass, lowering the price of that subscription service, canceling plans for a Gaming Copilot AI assistant, and overhauling Xbox’s leadership team.

Double Fine was acquired under Phil Spencer’s tenure to be a more boutique, indie-like producer of Game Pass content for Xbox. From the consumer perspective, what exactly Double Fine’s future with Xbox looks like going forward is uncertain, given that games like Keeper and Kiln are nowhere near as attention-grabbing as Gears of War or Halo.

As such, it’s good for the workers at Double Fine to fight for additional union-guaranteed protections in the wake of significant changes across Xbox. While Double Fine has launched two games within the past year, Xbox’s Matt Booty teased in a recent interview with Game File that a third game is still in development at the studio.