As Employees Unionize, Paradox Agrees To Sign Collective Bargaining Agreement

Paradox Interactive, the publisher of games like Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 and the developer behind Stellaris, announced that it would be signing a collective agreement with some of its employees labor unions.

"Under the terms of the agreement, Paradox employees have a formalized means of influencing their pay, benefits, responsibilities, and more," a statement released by Paradox Interactive read. "The agreement will apply to all Paradox employees working at locations within Sweden as of its implementation, expected to be finalized within the quarter."

The agreement will be signed with Unionen, the biggest trade union in Sweden and the biggest white-collar union in the world, and SACO, a confederation of 26 independent professional associations in Sweden. Both bodies represent employees within Paradox, many of whom took to Twitter to celebrate the announcement on Wednesday.

Unionization has become a widespread issues in the games industry in recent years, with educational talks happening at conventions like the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The emergence of Game Workers Unite, an organization that connections developers and union advocates, has helped spread awareness and education about the topic.

Paradox Interactive has been growing rapidly over the past five years, acquiring the Battletech, Prison Architect, and World of Darkness properties, among others. It currently runs seven internal studios across Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, California, and Washington state alongside its publishing arm. The Barcelona office, helmed by Europe Universalis creator Johan Andersson, was announced on June 1.

This agreement will only affect developers working in the company's offices in Sweden.

"With this agreement in place, we will be further empowered to advocate for our members here at Paradox, and contribute to making it the best place to work in the industry," said Magne Skjæran, Games Programmer at Paradox Development Studio and Union Representative for Unionen, in the same statement. "We hope it will inspire people to organize in video game companies the world over."

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