ZA/UM Studio Forms Union in the UK: A Bid for a Seat at the Management Table
Disco Elysium's developer ZA/UM has successfully formed a union, seeking to foster collaboration with management.
The Workers’ Alliance at ZA/UM was established through the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain.
In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, representatives of this newly formed union, along with company president Ed Tomaszewski, shared the news of their unionization and its recognition by management. This shift comes as ZA/UM begins to unveil its second project, the spy RPG Zero Parades, slated for release in 2026.
“The more I’ve worked here, the more I’ve realized that what we have is a unique makeup of people, and the union is a large effort to solidify that,” said union representative and UI/UX designer Declan Keane. Translation: “The more I’ve worked here, the more I’ve realized that what we have is a unique makeup of people, and the union is a large effort to solidify that.”
Poppy Ingham, another union rep and community manager added, “We can exercise our legal rights should we need to, but mostly so we can try and have the studio work as a collaborative project between the workers and management. We like being here. We want to continue being here. So let’s try and get a seat at the table in the big management meetings.”
ZA/UM’s management has acknowledged the union voluntarily, contrasting with other instances of labor organizing in the industry that faced significant resistance.
