Tag Archives: magic: the gathering arena

Wizards of the Coast releases Statement Regarding Unionization Effort and Hires Anti-Union Law Firm

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UWOTC

Wizards of the Coast has responded to unionization efforts by the Magic: The Gathering – Arena team. The proposed union had asked WotC to recognize the union by today, May Day, in a symbolic support of workers.

On Wednesday, members of the union posted WotC’s response:

We have received the filing and are reviewing it carefully. Our employees are the lifeblood of what makes us great, and we are committed to fostering a workplace where every person feels heard, valued, and supported. We believe we have a strong connection with everyone at Wizards of the Coast and that direct relationship with our employees is essential to how we work together to capture the imagination of our fans and players, inspiring a lifetime love of our games. We appreciate hearing about the needs and interests of our employees through this filing and will respond through the appropriate process.

Wizards of the Coast has the ability to recognize the union or the move to unionize will be put to a vote.

WotC also responded by hiring legal counsel from Fisher & Phillips LLP, a law firm known for its work in labor relations and, specifically, for helping companies remain union-free workplaces. The NLRB case file, dated April 27, shows WotC has hired Alex Desrosiers and Jack O`Connor as legal representatives.

In their announcement, the union has said they are negotiating for:

  • Layoff Protections: Employees currently live in fear of suddenly losing their jobs, with no warning and through no fault of their own.
  • Remote Work Protections: Leadership is instituting a mandatory RTO, forcing numerous remote employees to return to a physical office or be forced to resign. This painful choice is splitting our employees between their homes, communities, and the jobs they love.
  • Generative AI Protections: Pressure has ramped up from leadership to adopt LLMs and Gen AI tools in various aspects of our work. WOTC lacks a robust AI policy, leaving opportunities for abuse and communicating a level of disrespect for artists and other creatives.
  • Sustainable Workload: Employees’ experiences with “crunch” (intense, mandatory unpaid overtime) to meet deadlines vary widely by team and project, with some teams crunching on a regular basis just to get planned work out the door.

They are asking individuals to sign a letter to show their support for the union.

Two More Unions! Hachette Book Group Employees and workers at Magic The Gathering: Arena Both Vote to Unionize!

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There are two more unions in the geek space as Hachette Book Group Employees and workers at Magic The Gathering: Arena both have voted to unionize.

Hachette Workers Coalition (HWC)

Employees of Hachette Book Group have voted to unionize, joining the Washington-Baltimore News-Guild-CW Local 32035 of the AFL-CIO. A supermajority of the 600 workers signed up and the Hachette Workers Coalition (HWC) is now the largest union in trade publishing history. The members are seeking a livable wage regardless of work location, better working conditions, a cap on workload hours, a clear and neutral grievance process, AI protections, follow-through on DEI policies, and more.

The HWC have successfully organized in the past, canceling HBG’s publication of Woody Allen’s memoir in 2020 and amending the return-to-office work in 2022.

In the announcement, they mention “substandard working conditions, overwhelming workloads, and compensation not commensurate with the exceptional success and growth that workers have brought HBG.”

The organizing campaign has taken over 5 years.

United Wizards of the Coast - CWA (UWOTC

In other union news, the workers at Magic: The Gathering – Arena have overwhelmingly voted to form a union, United Wizards of the Coast – CWA (UWOTC).

The USWOTC has asked the Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro management to voluntarily recognize the union by International Workers Day (May Day) which takes place on May 1, 2026.

In their announcement, the union has said they are negotiating for:

  • Layoff Protections: Employees currently live in fear of suddenly losing their jobs, with no warning and through no fault of their own.
  • Remote Work Protections: Leadership is instituting a mandatory RTO, forcing numerous remote employees to return to a physical office or be forced to resign. This painful choice is splitting our employees between their homes, communities, and the jobs they love.
  • Generative AI Protections: Pressure has ramped up from leadership to adopt LLMs and Gen AI tools in various aspects of our work. WOTC lacks a robust AI policy, leaving opportunities for abuse and communicating a level of disrespect for artists and other creatives.
  • Sustainable Workload: Employees’ experiences with “crunch” (intense, mandatory unpaid overtime) to meet deadlines vary widely by team and project, with some teams crunching on a regular basis just to get planned work out the door.

They are asking individuals to sign a letter to show their support for the union.

Magic: The Gathering Arena Announces Custom Streamer Events and Direct Challenge with Friends

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Wizards of the Coast has a new series of in-game events built around creators in the Magic: The Gathering Arena community—Streamer Events—and they start tomorrow!

Since the launch of Open Beta of Magic: The Gathering Arena less than a month ago, 100 Million games have been played! During that time an incredible amount of creator content has been made by the Magic: The Gathering Arena community. Magic players have been teaching, competing, entertaining, deckbuilding, and sharing these experiences online. The Magic: The Gathering Arena team wants to continue to encourage these talented creators to make and enjoy great content in a way that is unique to Magic.

To create Streamer Events, the Magic: The Gathering Arena team is working closely with different creators in the community to build customized in-game events around their unique personality and play style. These events will be recurring and will feature a variety of awesome content creators and wildly different game modes.

To top it all off, we are adding in a major feature, Direct Challenge. Direct Challenge will allow players to jump into games against their friends by searching their in-game name before going into battle. We are excited to announce that Direct Challenge will be coming in the next November update with more robust friend features on the way!

First Streamer Event Details – October 26-29

Day[9]’s Insta-Ban

We’re giving Constructed new house rules with Day[9]. Day[9] has always had a burning displeasure for counters and tricks. So together we created INSTA-BAN, where you bring a 60-card deck with zero instant spells in it. Instant speed effects such as flash or activated abilities are permitted, but if the spell is an instant, it is BANNED.

Gaby’s Greedy Dominaria Draft

We’re giving Draft new house rules with Gaby Spartz. Gaby loves drafting and building ambitious decks. So together we are running a GREEDY DOMINARIA DRAFT. Draft 3 packs of Dominaria around a few unique rules in this game of Magic. Everyone can play two lands per turn, start with 9 cards, and has no maximum hand size.

Wizards of the Coast Reveals Magic: The Gathering Arena

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Wizards of the Coast has lifted the veil on Magic: The Gathering Area, a free-to-play way to enjoy the classic card game Magic: The Gathering for gamers, fans, and steamers. It’s the company’s first step to bring the game to modern digital gaming experience.

The hope is to get the community that revolves around this digital arena as big as those who like to watch live streams of analog play.

When this digital version launches it will feature the full card sets in Standard, with around 1,000 new cards added every year.

The goal for this experience is to make it as much fun to watchas it is to play focusing on a fast-paced, easy to udnerstand, experience.

The final goal of this is a system that can evolve. The Games Rules Engine will use machine learning that can read any card that can be dreamt up. New mechanics, fun concepts, there’s a want for there to be no limits.

Wizards will be holding a Closed Beta of which you can find details in the official announcements.

Arena will be different from Magic Online and the hope is for MTG Arena and the tabletop version to complement one another.