Raven Quality Assurance Workers Celebrate Historic Win, Game Workers Alliance (CWA) Becomes First Certified Union at Activision Blizzard

Quality Assurance workers at Activision’s Raven Software video game studio this week won their union election and will be represented by the Communications Workers of America. 86% of the votes were in support of the union. The workers, known as Game Workers Alliance (CWA), are the first group to win union representation at Activision Blizzard. The Raven QA team predominantly works on the studio’s popular Call of Duty series.

“Five months ago, we formed the Game Workers Alliance-CWA on the principles of solidarity, sustainability, transparency, equity, and diversity. Activision Blizzard worked tirelessly to undermine our efforts to establish our union, but we persevered. Now that we’ve won our election, it is our duty to protect these foundational values on which our union stands. Our biggest hope is that our union serves as inspiration for the growing movement of workers organizing at video game studios to create better games and build workplaces that reflect our values and empower all of us. We look forward to working with management to positively shape our working conditions and the future of Activision Blizzard through a strong union contract,” said members of Game Workers Alliance (CWA).

Earlier this year, Raven workers announced the formation of Game Workers Alliance (CWA), after going on strike for five weeks. The strike began December 6, when over 60 Raven Software workers walked out in protest after Activision Blizzard laid off 12 of the studio’s quality assurance testers. The Raven QA strike was the third work stoppage since Activision Blizzard was sued in late July over sexual harassment and misconduct claims. Read more here and in NPR, The Verge, and The New York Times, and follow the Game Workers Alliance Union on Twitter.