After its release in May of this year, Raven Software managed to become the first syndicate Activision Blizzard, it appears that several groups of testers followed suit, and in July 2022 it was revealed that Blizzard Albany, a studio based in New York, consisting of 20 employees who mainly dedicate themselves to Diablo QA, had begun the process of forming a union. . . for your luck, The vote was held today, and the results were positive.
After several months of discussion, and Activision Blizzard trying to scuttle these plans, A vote was held today to form the second union of the Blizzard Albany company. The result of the election was: 14 votes for union, none against. There were 18 eligible voters, including three contested votes. The Game Workers Alliance Albany, a group of activists known as Raven Software, is represented by the Communication Workers of America – Campaign to Organize Digital Employees, or CODE-CWA for its acronym in English. Blizzard Albany Associate Test Analyst Amanda Deep had this to say:
“It took an incredible amount of work and perseverance to get this fight going. With this win, we stand up for ourselves and others because we care deeply about our work and the games we make. Organizing for the dignity and respect every worker deserves on the job has empowered us all to fight harder.”
For its part, Activision Blizzard issued the following message:
“We are considering all options, focusing on what is best for all employees and delivering the best games to our millions of players. We still believe that everyone in our Albany party should have the right to vote. It is about justice and fundamental rights for every member of the party.”
Since this trip was not without problems Activision Blizzard was accused of trying to destroy the union in the run-up to the Blizzard Albany union election.. In October, the Game Workers Alliance filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the company after its communications director, Lulu Cheng Meserve, posted a company-wide Slack message “disrespecting the union.” This statement received a lot of response from the workers.
Despite this, the end result is that Blizzard Albany Activision became Blizzard’s second official syndicate, and at this rate, it may not be over. For their part, the team’s QAs are currently working on Diablo 4, which is due out next year.
In a related matter, China rejected Activision’s purchase of Blizzard. Likewise, what will happen to the company’s games if Microsoft doesn’t go through with the acquisition.
Editor’s note:
This is very good news. At this rate, more and more unions will form in the rest of the video game industry, not just at Activision Blizzard. Testers generally don’t have the same benefits as the rest of the industry and can lose their jobs, so this is a good way to secure their future.
Through: polygon
