// KOTAKU — GAMING
Candy Crush Bosses Reject Developers’ Union Demands, Saying The ‘Current Operating Model Is The Right Fit’
After a year of negotiations, management of Candy Crush maker King has declined a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) requested by employees via Swedish trade unions Unionen and Sveriges Ingenjörer, Kotaku has learned.
Employees were informed of the decision in June via an email sent by King president Todd Green and seen by Kotaku. In the email, Green says that “the decision was not made lightly,” and cited two reasons for the company’s declining the CBA.
The first listed reason is that the company’s “current benefits offering is better for our employees” in areas such as enhanced pension, long-term sick pay, private health insurance, and parental leave. “Whilst entering into a CBA doesn’t prevent us continuing offering the same benefits, it will require us to change the structure of the benefits we offer, which we believe would be negative to employees in Sweden.”
The second is that King believes its “current operating model is the right fit for King, including our operations in Sweden, at this time.” Green goes on to explain that King would prefer to maintain a “consistent and equal experience for all” King employees across its multiple studios (King has several offices in both Europe and the U.S.). According to King, “[e]ntering into a CBA would require significant changes to how we operate in Sweden, including our processes, policies, and ways of working.”
Green continued, saying that King recognizes the need for “stronger dialogue, more opportunities to ask questions, and…better context around company decisions that affect them.” He also said that the decision “does not reflect any lack of respect for trade unions or for the Swedish labour model. We will continue to work with the trade union club in an open, respectful and constructive way, and we will continue to consult with trade unions where required.”
Swedish labor unions are a bit different from those in the U.S. In Sweden, any eligible worker can join one of several trade unions that represent their field any time they like. Those trade unions negotiate broadly within their represented sectors over working conditions such as sick leave and salaries that then apply to all employees, and union members may receive some benefits such as legal advice through the union. As a result, roughly 70 percent of employees in Sweden are trade union members (per the largest private-sector Swedish trade union, Unionen).
However, if enough employees within a specific employer so choose, that group can form a union club at their workplace. Together, the group can elect a union board to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement, or CBA, on their behalf with the employer, which can secure members company-specific benefits. In the past, companies such as Paradox Interactive and Avalanche Studios have undergone this process. That CBA, as demonstrated here, can be rejected, though employers are required to negotiate in good faith. A rejection could open the company up to potential collective action by employees to pressure the company into reconsidering, though it is not currently clear whether or not that is being considered at King.
King staff opted to form a union club in late 2024 after the sudden removal of a private doctor benefit sparked discussion within the studio of how the employees could have a greater say in major changes to their working conditions. Negotiations over a CBA have been ongoing since 2025, though the company also underwent a devastating round of layoffs around that same time and was more recently impacted in Xbox’s massive cuts this past June. It is unclear how many of those workers were based in Sweden.
In 2023, Microsoft announced a labor neutrality agreement with Communications Workers of America, pledging to “take a neutral approach when employees covered by the agreement express interest in joining a union.” Microsoft has not made such pledges with other unions apart from CWA.
In response to a request for comment from Kotaku, a Unionen represen