Activision Blizzard Testers Unionize Amid Microsoft's $70B Purchase, Company Pledges Neutrality
-
In December 2021, Activision Blizzard-owned Raven Software laid off 1/3 of quality assurance testers while making some testers permanent employees.
-
The remaining testers went on strike, then filed for a union election, forming the first union at a major U.S. video game company.
-
In January 2022, Microsoft announced a $70 billion deal to purchase Activision Blizzard.
-
After Raven testers unionized, Microsoft said it would stay neutral if any Activision employees sought to unionize with CWA.
-
Microsoft also said it would extend that neutrality pledge to studios it already owned.