Workers at an Activision studio vote to unionize, a first for the gaming industry.

A group of workers at a video game studio voted to form a union, a first for a major North American video game company.

The vote affects 28 quality-assurance employees at the Wisconsin studio that helps to develop the popular Call of Duty game. The National Labor Relations Board counted the votes on Monday after the workers voted over the past several weeks. If it finds grounds for a complaint, it has a week to object.

After a lawsuit accused the company of having a sexist culture in which women were harassed, employees at the company started organizing to improve working conditions.

Quality assurance workers walked out of work in December to protest the end of their contracts. The Communications Workers of America helped lead the effort to unionize.

Workers in the new union hope that their union serves as inspiration for the growing movement of workers organizing at video game studios to create better games and build workplaces that reflect our values and empower all of us.

The secretary-treasurer of the C.W.A. said she was thrilled to welcome the new union and that the workers would soon have an enforceable union contract.

Employees in the video game industry have complained for years about poor pay, gender discrimination and a term for 12- to 14-hour shifts given to workers in a rush to meet deadlines. Q.A. workers say they are often treated as second-class workers. Employees have begun to organize. None of the major video game developers in North America have a union.

The new union only affects a small group of workers. All workers at the studio should be able to vote, according to the company that is being acquired by Microsoft. The N.L.R.B. rejected that assertion in April.

The company argued that the decision to unionize should not be made by 19 employees.

An N.L.R.B. regional director has found merit in the allegations made by C.W.A.