The indie video game studio Heart Machine has voluntarily recognized a union formed by staff members.
The developer behind 2021’s Solar Ash and 2016’s Hyper Light Drifter agreed to recognize a wall-to-wall union representing all non-managerial employees, the Communications Workers of America announced on Monday. Previously, the union states, a majority of the workers at the studio signaled their interest in joining CWA.
Thirteen employees are included in the bargaining unit, including animators, designers, gameplay engineers, environmental artists and a gameplay tools engineer. Heart Machine is based in L.A. and the union will be under the umbrella of Burbank-based CWA Local 9003.
“I decided to get involved in organizing my studio because I’ve seen so many peers in the industry stand up to protect the craft we all care so deeply about. Watching that momentum grow made me realize that if we love this work, we have to protect it, especially now,” said gameplay tools engineer Steph Aligbe in a statement.
“Our union is proud that our studio chose to voluntarily recognize our union and live up to its high-road labor values, and we look forward to working on a first contract that safeguards our workplace.”
The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Heart Machine for comment.
The unionization follows a round of layoffs that Heart Machine reportedly conducted in 2025 at the same time as the company ended development on an early-access game, Hyper Light Breaker. In 2025 The Verge reported that the studio was experimenting with Patreon as a revenue source amid funding struggles in the gaming industry.
It’s the latest organizing victory for the CWA, which has previously organized unions at Blizzard Entertainment and Doom developers id Software, as well as workers behind the popular franchise Diablo.
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