Activison Blizzard QA testers form first US gaming union

Quality Assurance Testers at the Activision Blizzard-owned Raven Software have voted to form the first-ever labour union at a major US game company.

The vote to unionise passed 19-3 on Monday night, officially creating the first labour union at a major American games company. It comes after months of scandal for the major game publisher, including a lawsuit by the Department of Fair Employment in California.

Activision Blizzard QA Testers unionize

Raven Software is based in the city of Middleton, Wisconsin and has been owned by Activision since 1997. In that time, they have primarily worked on various Call of Duty titles alongside Treyarch and Infinity Ward.

On May 23, the studio’s quality assurance team voted to form the Game Workers Alliance, the first union within a major US gaming company. The vote comes just months after Activision Blizzard fired over a third of the quality assurance department at Raven Software.

However, the effort had faced resistance from Activision Blizzard, who had been orchestrating a campaign to widen the voting eligibility to more of Raven Software’s 350-or-so workers. This is a common union-busting tactic designed to potentially dilute the voting pool. However, their efforts were stymied by the National Labor Relations Board, whose Milwaukee office ordered the May 23 vote to ensure a fair process for the attempted union.

The move comes during a turbulent time for the gaming giant. For the past 12 months, Activision Blizzard has been mired in scandals relating to toxic workplaces, sexual harassment, and other workplace-related allegations. This culminated in a lawsuit from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. The lawsuit was settled in March 2022, with Activision Blizzard paying $18,000,000 to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

All of this comes ahead of the finalisation of Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which is expected to be concluded later this year. Microsoft released a statement saying that they would not interfere in unionisation efforts.

What remains to be seen is if this will spark similar efforts within Activision Blizzard and the wider gaming industry.

Header: Game Workers Alliance