Dungeons & Dragons Team Joins the Wizards of the Coast Union
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Article Summary
- Wizards of the Coast employees working on Dungeons & Dragons and D&D Beyond have officially announced the intention to join the United Wizards of the Coast union.
- D&D employees are also being joined by WotC staff from the Magic: The Gathering team as well as Studio X (the division which oversees the Duel Masters collectible card game).
- This campaign follows the creation of the union in June 2026 by the Magic: The Gathering Arena team.
- The newly expanded union is fighting for fair wages, job security, accessible healthcare, sustainable workloads, AI protections and full ownership of outside creative work.
- Organizers are calling on Wizards of the Coast leadership to voluntarily recognize the new coalition by October 13, 2026.
The workers behind the multiverse are officially joining forces. In an official online press release, it was announced that the designers, artists, writers, producers, and operational teams behind Dungeons & Dragons and D&D Beyond have announced their intentions to join United Wizards of the Coast, the fledgling union formed in June 2026 by Magic: The Gathering Arena staff and is part of the Communications Workers of America (CWA).
The D&D team is also joined by employees working on Magic: The Gathering’s tabletop version, as well as Studio X (the division which oversees the Duel Masters collectible card game). The newly expanded United Wizards of the Coast is calling on Hasbro leadership to voluntarily recognize the union by October 13, 2026 and is calling on fans to sign a petition.
Below, we look at why the D&D team made the decision and what it means for the future of the game.
What is United Wizards of the Coast?
United Wizards of the Coast is an organized labor coalition created by workers at Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast from properties including Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering and Duel Masters and formed under the banner of the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The organization’s primary focus is on securing:
- Fair Compensation: Wages that accurately reflect their labor alongside clearly defined career progression paths.
- Job Security: Stronger safeguards against corporate downsizing and widespread industry volatility.
- Healthcare Access: Reliable, easily accessible medical coverage for workers and their families.
- Sustainable Workloads: Healthy, balanced practices that support sustainable remote and hybrid working arrangements.
- AI Protections: Clear guardrails and defenses against the commercial encroachment of artificial intelligence.
- Creative Freedom: Full personal ownership and rights over independent work created outside of office hours.
As an organization, United Wizards of the Coast is relatively new, with the Magic: The Gathering Arena team having first announced plans to unionize in late April 2026.
Wizards of the Coast itself quickly pushed back against the organization and initially refused to recognize the organization. They also hired Fisher Phillips, a prominent law firm that specializes in union avoidance. Then WotC President John Hight and management also launched an aggressive internal campaign to dissuade staff from voting yes. This included sending daily anti-union emails and physical letters to employees’ homes.
Despite WotC leadership’s pressure, United Wizards of the Coast successfully formed in June 2026 after an employee vote was held.
How will this impact D&D?
With the Dungeons & Dragons team joining United Wizards of the Coast, there could be several larger impacts on the game and brand:
- Less turnover: In recent years, Wizards of the Coast has laid off key members of the D&D team, including videographer Todd Kenreck and most recently LaTia Jacquise. These types of layoffs (which were generally poorly received by the D&D fan community) would potentially not be as commonplace.
- Guarding against AI: WotC has experienced significant online backlist in the wake of accusations of using AI in artwork (resulting in a new AI policy), but the union is looking for additional protections.
- Protections for outside work: This has been a particularly big sticking point for D&D designers and artists, as under their current contracts they are prohibited from producing any outside work, with WotC potentially even claiming ownership of anything created by employees (even if it’s made during their own personal time).
It’s also worth noting that if there is any significant conflict between D&D staff and WotC management it could have a knock-on effect in terms of deliverables for upcoming D&D books.
Final thoughts
The Dungeons & Dragons and D&D Beyond teams joining United Wizards of the Coast represents a major historical milestone for both the company and the game. It remains to be seen, however, just what the impact will be on fans.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on this story in the days ahead and will update this page with new information as it’s made available.
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Jason Volk is the Publisher of Dungeons & Dragons Fanatics and lives in the wilds of Western Canada. He has been playing D&D for over 25 years and is a huge fan of Dragonlance and the Forgotten Realms. His favorite character of all time was a Necromancer named Neek who spent most of his adventuring career resurrecting the corpses of slain monsters. When he’s not playing TTRPGs, Jason enjoys video games, Magic: The Gathering, Warhammer 40K, watching football and spending time with his wife and adorably nerdy children.
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