Magic: The Gathering Arena developers at Wizards of the Coast are set to unionise with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The CWA say they’ve secured a “supermajority” in favour of unionisation among the workers, and have given Wizards of the Coast until the end of the week to voluntarily recognise the union – dubbed United Wizards of the Coast—CWA – and filed an election petition with the US National Labor Relations Board.

According to the CWA’s press release, the Magic devs have also sent Wizards of the Coast management a letter outlining several issues behind their desire to unionise. The group plan to push for better protections against layoffs, changes to remote working policies, use of generative AI, and mandatory crunch. The devs also want to generally increase the “transparency and equity” in their workplace.

“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,” Magic: The Gathering Arena senior software development engineer and union member Damien Wilson said. “I’m hopeful about what we can build here and being clear-eyed about why it’s necessary. This isn’t just something that affects Wizards of the Coast; it’s how most American workplaces are set up: investor profit above all, even if it hurts those behind the products we all know and love. Unions are the missing counterweight to protect our craft.”

Speaking to Kotaku, MTG Arena senior software engineers Valentine Powell and Neil White pointed to this union push was sparked by mass layoffs at Hasbro back in 2023, as well as concerns over a return to office policy in the wake of those cuts.

The group have also set up a public petition anyone who wishes to support their efforts to push Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro management to voluntarily recognise the union by May 1st can sign.

The CWA have been key to a lot of the unionisation efforts that’ve taken place across the games industry in recent years, including the likes of Blizzard workers and Id Software devs voting to unionise late last year.

Solidarity to these Magic: The Gathering Arena devs.