Psychonauts Developer Double Fine Is Forming a Union

Psychonauts and Kiln developer Double Fine Productions has laid the groundwork to become the latest Microsoft studio to form a union.

As first reported by Aftermath, the San Francisco-based game studio filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board May 7, 2026. The organization effort with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) follows the 450 Blizzard Entertainment staff who voted to unionize in August 2025, and the union formed by 165 developers at id Software the following December, as well as others. As outlined in the petition, the Double Fine union will include 42 "regular part-time and full-time employees."

“On May 7, the workers at Microsoft studio Double Fine Productions announced their decision to form a union with CWA to preserve and extend the studio’s commitments to creative excellence, diversity and inclusion, and worker quality of life," CWA told Aftermath in a statement. "In tandem with requesting voluntary recognition from the company, workers have also filed an election petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to secure union representation. We appreciate that Microsoft has taken a neutral approach and agreed not to interfere in any way with worker’s rights to organize unions.”

Double Fine was acquired by Microsoft in 2019 and has a 25-year history in the gaming space. Its most well-known title is probably the mind-bending platformer Psychonauts, which went on to get a sequel in 2021. Other popular titles under its belt include Brutal Legend, Broken Age, and Costume Quest. Kiln, a multiplayer brawler that lets players control moldable pieces of pottery, arrived as its most recent project just weeks ago, on April 23, 2026.

Double Fine's move to unionize arrives in the midst of a period of uncertainty for Microsoft. Following layoffs that affected around 9,100 employees in July 2025 and even more in 2024, a Bloomberg report in October of last year stated that the Xbox company had allegedly been pushing its game developers to deliver a steep 30% profit margin. In addition to the layoffs, Microsoft cancelled multiple projects, including games from the now-shuttered The Initiative, ZeniMax Online Studios, and Rare, in 2025 alone.

Shakeups at the company continued in February 2026 when it was announced that both Xbox CEO Phil Spencer and Xbox president Sarah Bond would be leaving the company. Then-Microsoft CoreAI president Asha Sharma has since replaced Spencer as CEO, with Xbox Game Studios head Matt Booty stepping in as chief content creative officer. Sharma's time in the spot has already been followed by a number of other changes, including a leadership reshuffle and the discontinuation of Copilot on console last week, as well as Game Pass price cuts.

The CWA said in its statement that Microsoft has agreed to take a neutral approach to unionization at Double Fine after the expiration of a previous neutrality agreement late last year. Other Microsoft developers who worked to form unions before the agreement expired include staff from the World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Blizzard Story and Franchise Development teams. Meanwhile, Raven Software Quality Assurance developers became the first Activision Blizzard workers to unionize in 2022 before scoring their first contract with Microsoft just last August.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

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