Jason Schreier

I interviewed Morhaime on stage at a Bloomberg event in October, and he told me that Dreamhaven is about 37% of its employees are either women or non-binary, which I thought was really interesting because at Blizzard, even at their Like, even after the kind of old frat house days, the number was around 20% for females to have a Blizzard. So I thought it was interesting.

And also, their game is being directed, the director of their game is a woman, which... It has never happened at Blizzard. There's never been a female game director at Blizzard. So again, I think that there are ways you can kind of recreate that ethos and Dreamhaven is certainly trying to. We'll see if they succeed and if their first game is a hit. But yeah, I'm keeping an eye on that for sure.

And also, their game is being directed, the director of their game is a woman, which... It has never happened at Blizzard. There's never been a female game director at Blizzard. So again, I think that there are ways you can kind of recreate that ethos and Dreamhaven is certainly trying to. We'll see if they succeed and if their first game is a hit. But yeah, I'm keeping an eye on that for sure.

To be clear, by the way, I don't think he's ever said that. No, no, no, no. This is my read on it. And yeah, and some of these ex-Blizzard companies have been more successful than others. Second Dinner, which made Marvel Snap, has had a huge amount of success. That's Ben Brode and a bunch of ex-Hearthstone people. Mm-hmm.

To be clear, by the way, I don't think he's ever said that. No, no, no, no. This is my read on it. And yeah, and some of these ex-Blizzard companies have been more successful than others. Second Dinner, which made Marvel Snap, has had a huge amount of success. That's Ben Brode and a bunch of ex-Hearthstone people. Mm-hmm.

Whereas others we either haven't heard anything from or they really have had mixed results with their game. So yeah, we'll see. It's much easier to say you want to recreate the old Magic than it is to actually do it.

Whereas others we either haven't heard anything from or they really have had mixed results with their game. So yeah, we'll see. It's much easier to say you want to recreate the old Magic than it is to actually do it.

Yeah, I mean, they're in the present of the games as the World of Warcraft team has unionized. I think what the process we're in right now is that a lot of the teams that have unionized are still trying to negotiate contracts. And a lot of those have taken a very long time, years in some cases. And that is really just to kind of zoom out for a second and explain the process.

Yeah, I mean, they're in the present of the games as the World of Warcraft team has unionized. I think what the process we're in right now is that a lot of the teams that have unionized are still trying to negotiate contracts. And a lot of those have taken a very long time, years in some cases. And that is really just to kind of zoom out for a second and explain the process.

Basically, if a team decides to unionize, whether it's an entire company's staff or just like a subset of a company, their process from there is they essentially go and have a bunch of meetings with company management and they say, hey, here's what we want. And management says, okay, you can have this, can't have that. And it's a negotiation from there.

Basically, if a team decides to unionize, whether it's an entire company's staff or just like a subset of a company, their process from there is they essentially go and have a bunch of meetings with company management and they say, hey, here's what we want. And management says, okay, you can have this, can't have that. And it's a negotiation from there.

And you come up with what's called a contract. And the contract, the collective bargaining agreement, or CBA, that is the power of the union. That is what says, you cannot lay people off unless this, this, and this. Or you must give us a cost of living raise increase every single year of this percent. That's the power of the union. And we haven't seen a ton of examples of that happening just yet.

And you come up with what's called a contract. And the contract, the collective bargaining agreement, or CBA, that is the power of the union. That is what says, you cannot lay people off unless this, this, and this. Or you must give us a cost of living raise increase every single year of this percent. That's the power of the union. And we haven't seen a ton of examples of that happening just yet.

So I'm very curious to see if, for example, the World of Warcraft team gets a contract and talks about it online, and it turns out it's got a whole bunch of really cool perks that really makes their lives better. Then you could see other teams at Blizzard saying, hey, we want that too. We should also organize. So that, I think, will be a big test of the unionization effort.

So I'm very curious to see if, for example, the World of Warcraft team gets a contract and talks about it online, and it turns out it's got a whole bunch of really cool perks that really makes their lives better. Then you could see other teams at Blizzard saying, hey, we want that too. We should also organize. So that, I think, will be a big test of the unionization effort.

in the video game industry. And unions, by the way, cannot prevent layoffs from happening. They can provide protections. A union contract can say, hey, if you're going to lay people off, you need to come to us and say, we'll negotiate buyouts first, voluntary buyouts. Or you need to give X amount of severance if you lay people off. That's the sort of thing that a union can do.

in the video game industry. And unions, by the way, cannot prevent layoffs from happening. They can provide protections. A union contract can say, hey, if you're going to lay people off, you need to come to us and say, we'll negotiate buyouts first, voluntary buyouts. Or you need to give X amount of severance if you lay people off. That's the sort of thing that a union can do.

A union cannot say you can never lay people off because no company will ever agree to that in a contract.

A union cannot say you can never lay people off because no company will ever agree to that in a contract.

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