King, the Candy Crush Saga developer and Microsoft subsidiary, has signed a collective bargaining agreement with Swedish unions Unionen and Sveriges Ingenjörer after more than a year of negotiations and a looming strike threat, marking a significant win for worker organizing in the games industry.

The deal, effective April 1, 2027, followed strike notices issued on September 15, 2026, and the involvement of additional unions pledging sympathy action, which helped force the eleventh-hour resolution. Workers will gain stronger rights to organize, receive advance notice of workplace changes like reorganizations, and influence their conditions, though the company previously argued its existing benefits already exceeded typical CBA standards.

This milestone, as noted in industry coverage, underscores the power employees wield when they band together, especially amid broader Microsoft gaming layoffs and the removal of popular perks like private doctor access that initially sparked the union drive back in 2024.

While the agreement aligns King more closely with Sweden's labor norms where most workers enjoy such protections, it also highlights ongoing tensions between corporate resistance and collective action in an industry plagued by instability.