A group of 28 QA testers at Activision Blizzard’s Wisconsin-based Raven Software studio have, despite the publisher’s ongoing anti-unionisation efforts, won their vote to unionise.
Quality Assurance testers at Raven Software formally announced their intent to unionise under the name Game Workers Alliance in January – amid then-ongoing strike action following the firing of 12 members of the developer’s QA team – but when Activision Blizzard missed a deadline to voluntarily recognise the union, the group filed a petition with independent government agency the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to initiate a union election.
Activision Blizzard contested the filing, but its arguments were rejected by NLRB, whereupon the publisher was reportedly began ramping up its anti-unionisation efforts.
Activision Blizzard executives had already contacted staff during the Game Workers Alliance’s initial push for unionisation, saying unions “could hurt our ability to continue creating great games” and were inferior to “active, transparent dialogue between leaders and employees”, but with union elections looming, Raven management began organising meetings and town halls in which it was reportedly inferred unionisation would “impede game development and affect promotions and benefits”. Studio employees were also send an email with an attachment simply reading “Please vote no”.