King Shuts Down Collective Bargaining Agreement Over Benefits

King, the developer behind the smash-hit mobile game Candy Crush Saga, is denying a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) requested by its employees.

According to Kotaku, King president Todd Green claims that the company's "current benefits offering is better for [King] employees," citing private health insurance, parental leave, enhanced pension, and long-term sick pay. "Whilst entering into a CBA doesn't prevent us continuing offering the same benefits," Green adds, "it will require us to change the structure of the benefits we offer, which we believe would be negative to employees in Sweden."

The Swedish trade union Unionen, which requested a new CBA alongside Sveriges Ingenjörer, found the decision "naturally disappointing."

There is strong union engagement among employees at King, and many see a collective bargaining agreement as a way to secure transparent terms and conditions, greater security, and meaningful workplace influence.

Candy Crush Developers Unionized in 2024

In 2023, Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard King (ABK) was completed. A year later, the company sent out an email to employees located in Stockholm, Sweden, informing them that a popular company benefit was going away. In response, over one hundred developers at King's Stockholm studio formed a union with Unionen, Sweden's largest trade union.

The union has since been acknowledged, and ongoing communication with company management and the union in hopes of securing a CBA has been underway since.

A quick note on Swedish unions: they operate a little differently than in the United States. In Sweden, an eligible worker can join one of several trade unions which represent their field any time they'd like, such as Unionen. Unionen negotiates within their represented sectors over things like working conditions, sick leave, salary, and more. All employees and union members may receive benefits through the union, such as legal advice, something that's quite relevant in the modern video game development industry.

However, if enough employees in an employer, such as King, choose to, they can form a union club at their workplace. They'll be able to elect a union board to negotiate a CBA on their behalf. This does not mean that the CBA will be accepted, as was the case here with King rejecting it. That rejection brings the possibility of opening the company up to potential collective action by employees, pressuring the company to reconsider their decision.

Unionen Is Not Backing Down From Supporting Their Members

Following the decision, Unionen said that they are "committed to supporting its members at King and the goal of securing a collective agreement. Following the summer, the dialogue with members will continue to discuss the way forward. Unionen’s long-term ambition remains that more employees in the Swedish labour market should be covered by collective bargaining agreements."

King offered the following statement to Kotaku regarding their decision:

"This has been an important topic, and we have taken the time needed to follow the right process and carefully assess what a Collective Bargaining Agreement would mean for King, our people and the way we work. As a Swedish founded company, we have great respect for the Swedish labour market model, for collective agreements, and for those who work to secure strong conditions for employees in Sweden."

"King offers fair and competitive employment terms, and we are confident that our benefits and conditions are in line with, or exceed, what would be provided under a Collective Bargaining Agreement. We have also established a constructive dialogue with our local union representatives, and while we have decided not to enter into a CBA at this time, we remain committed to continuing this respectful and transparent dialogue on important employee matters."

This is one of several unions that have formed over the years, not just at ABK, but at Microsoft as a whole. Employees at Bethesda, Blizzard, Raven Software, and others have all unionized in response to unfair working conditions. Even beyond the Microsoft umbrella, we've seen unions forming at several major studios across the industry.