Popverse's top stories

• Black Clover manga to come to an abrupt end this week just before the new season of the anime airs
• Finally, The Boys Season 5 delivers the Supernatural reunion we've been waiting for... and it is extra bloody
• Marvel Studios killed a Daredevil: Born Again character in editing, dropping scenes already shot from season 2

A ragtag group of commoners banding together to take on an ultra-powerful entity - it might sound like high fantasy, but there's nothing fictional about this story. The ragtag band in question is the Wizards of the Coast employees working on Magic: The Gathering, who recently announced their plan to unionize in the wake of major changes at parent company Wizards of the Coast. But in keeping with the theme, the Magic employees have, admittedly, chosen a fellowship that includes many of the folks behind fantasy storytelling today.

The story of the Wizards of the Coast workers at Magic: The Gathering unionizing comes from an April 27 article out of The Guardian, which explains in detail why the developers behind the most popular deck-building game of all time are banding together for their workers' rights. Reasons like the creeping possibility of AI taking over positions and a 2023 round of layoffs all factor into the decision, but as Wizards of the Coast's digital product manager Rogue Kessler tells it, there was one move from their bosses in particular that especially led to the calls for a union: an in-office work mandate.

"We have people living all over the country. And many of those folks were hired remotely in the first place. They’ve never been to Washington," says Kessler, who was hired in October 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. "They’ve never lived here, and now they’re being told all of a sudden that they need to move to Seattle, uproot their families, sell their homes and relocate here in two years or lose their job. [...] We want to see some robust protections there."

So where will those "robust protections" come from? Well, according to The Guardian, Magic employees are hoping it'll come from being part of the largest communications and media labor union in the United States: the Communications Workers of America. If you keep up with labor protections in the field of fantasy entertainment (hell yeah, first of all), you might recognize that name from the many, many other gaming workers it represents.

As of this writing, the CWA has represented employees of companies like Bethesda (makers of the Elder Scrolls games), Blizzard (the folks behind World of Warcraft), and even gaming giant SEGA, who, among many other projects, are responsible for Mortal Kombat and Eternal Champions. It's a long list of skilled and creative clients, and according to M:TG software engineer Valentine Powell, that's exactly the type of workers need protection right now.

"The co-workers that I’ve had here," said Powell of Wizards of the Coast, "Are some of the most dedicated to trying to make a really, really outstanding game and trying to make their players happy and keep those lines of communication open. And it’s those people that we’re very likely to lose if some of the initiatives go forward [...] I really believe unionization is the only thing that’s going to save the games industry."

[Editor's note: Popverse's parent company ReedPop has a business relationship with Wizards of the Coast, including the Magic Con conventions.]

Whether you are a Commander player, a regular at your local game shop's FNM event, or simply love collecting Magic: The Gathering cards, you've landed in the right place. From Universes Beyond to the furthest reaches of the Magic Multiverse, we've got you covered here at Popverse. 

• Wizards of the Coast's Magic: The Gathering upcoming release schedule
• The most expensive MTG cards in the Secrets of Strixhaven set
• Magic: The Gathering and Marvel are planning "multiple sets" and Commander Decks - thanks to Thanos' Infinity Stones
• Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy crossover is already the top-selling set in Wizards of the Coast’s history