According to the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, Microsoft agreed to recognize the group after a “supermajority” of workers at the video game production company expressed support for the plan.
Popular games owned by ZeniMax include The Elder Scrolls and Fallout.
It comes on the heels of a surge in unionization efforts in the United States.
Apple, Amazon, and Google are among the other US companies that have faced labor disputes in recent years, as employees demand more from employers in the face of rising living costs.
According to the CWA, union campaigns have historically elicited strong corporate opposition.
Apple employees form the country’s first union.
“Other video games and technology behemoths have made a deliberate decision to attack, undermine, and demoralize their own employees when they band together to form a union,” CWA president Chris Shelton said.
“Microsoft is taking a different path that will strengthen its corporate culture and ability to serve its customers, and it should serve as a model for the industry and a blueprint for regulators,” Mr. Shelton added.
The company behind the popular first-person shooting game DOOM, ZeniMax Studios, is the first studio at Microsoft US to secure union representation and will have the largest group of union-represented quality assurance testers at any US game studio, according to CWA.
The organization will represent approximately 300 quality assurance workers in Maryland and Texas.
Organizers said they hoped that by forming a union, which allows for collective bargaining on issues such as pay and working conditions, they would be able to improve job opportunities while also reducing unfair pay practices and overwork during crunch times.
By voluntarily agreeing to bargain with unionized employees, Microsoft avoids a formal process supervised by the US National Labor Relations Board, which is frequently followed by legal battles.
The CWA has also participated in unionization campaigns at Activision Blizzard. The company has been fighting the efforts.
Microsoft announced a deal to buy Activision Blizzard last year, prompting the government to sue to block the transaction due to competition concerns.
Microsoft had agreed with the CWA to remain neutral in labor disputes as part of its efforts to gain support for the merger, which would be one of the largest in the company’s history.
A Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment on how the new union might impact the company’s operations.
“We look forward to engaging in good faith negotiations as we work toward a collective bargaining agreement,” said a spokesperson.
