Activision Blizzard has announced the conversion of all temporary and contingent QA staff at its Activision Publishing and Blizzard divisions to full-time employees – almost 1,100 temp game testers will now have full-time positions with benefits. They’ll also earn more money, with a new minimum hourly pay of $20.
The change is the result of major worker agitation following Raven Software’s announcement in December that it would cut off QA contractors. Raven Software is an Activision firm best known for its work on the Call of Duty franchise. Some workers staged a protest, while others organised a union, the Game Workers Alliance, in collaboration with the Communications Workers of America.
However, according to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Raven QA testers will not receive increases. Activision Blizzard verified this to The Verge, providing detail in the form of an email from Raven Software vice president Brian Raffel. “At the moment, we are unable to make new types of compensation modifications at Raven due to our legal duties under the National Labor Relations Act,” Raffel stated.
Epic Games made a similar step earlier this year to convert testers to full-time workers.
Activision has also come under fire following a July lawsuit filed by the state of California saying that the firm fostered a culture of “continuous sexual harassment.” According to a November story from The Wall Street Journal, CEO Bobby Kotick has been aware of sexual misconduct complaints at the business for years. California’s complaint is still pending, but a court recently granted a $18 million settlement with the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in connection with a related action.
Additionally, the adjustments occur under the shadow of Microsoft’s imminent $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
