Nuked Hello, my fellow tech enthusiasts! Today, I want to share some exciting news with you all. Around 600 workers in Activision Publishing’s quality assurance department have recently formed a union, making it the largest video game union in the United States.
Assisted by the Communications Workers of America, the employees completed their vote with the results certified on Friday, March 8th. With that, Activision Quality Assurance United – CWA becomes the latest union to arise out of Microsoft’s gaming division.
In 2022, Microsoft affirmed a labor neutrality agreement with the CWA which eases the organization process at the company and its subsidiaries including Activision Blizzard. This agreement, along with Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year, made the goals of unionizing easier to accomplish for the workers.
In an interview with The Verge, Tom Shelley, one of Activision Quality Assurance United’s organizers, highlighted the importance of this unionization effort. He mentioned that as QA workers, they often have the weakest protections and lowest pay in the industry, despite their integral role in the success of the companies they work for.
Shelley praised Microsoft for voluntarily recognizing the union and hopes it will inspire more organizing at the company and beyond. Last year, Microsoft also recognized a union of QA workers at ZeniMax online, as well as at Blizzard Albany and Raven Software.
While video game labor unions are gaining momentum, they have faced challenges, especially in light of widespread layoffs. In 2023, the CWA filed an unfair labor complaint against Sega, but through union negotiations, they were able to save a number of jobs when layoffs occurred.
