[STEAM] Psychonauts Developer Double Fine Is Forming a Union

[Steam 0]

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

developer Double Fine Productions has laid the groundwork to become the latest

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

studio to form a union.

As first reported by

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, the San Francisco-based game studio

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

with the National Labor Relations Board May 7, 2026. The organization effort with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) follows

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

who voted to unionize in August 2025, and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

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

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

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

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

has taken a neutral approach and agreed not to interfere in any way with worker’s rights to organize unions.”

Double Fine was

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

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 ******* of uncertainty for

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Following layoffs that

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

in July 2025 and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

in 2024, a

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

report in October of last year stated that

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. In addition to the layoffs,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

cancelled multiple projects, including games from

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, 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

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Then-

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

CoreAI president

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

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

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

last week, as well as

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

.

The CWA said in its statement that

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

has agreed to take a neutral approach to unionization at Double Fine after the expiration of

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

late last year. Other

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

developers who worked to form unions before the agreement expired include staff from the

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

,

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

, and

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

. Meanwhile, Raven Software Quality Assurance developers became

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

before

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

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

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up

(@MikeCripe).

This is the hidden content, please

• Sign In
• or
• Sign Up