Activision Blizzard Has Another Union on Its Hands. Now What?

The movement to organize the video game industry took another step forward today when a group of Activision Blizzard quality assurance workers voted unanimously to unionize at the company’s office in Albany, New York. The Game Workers Alliance Albany is only the second unit to form at a major, AAA studio in North America, and only the third in the US games industry as a whole. It’s also the second within Activision Blizzard itself, which has been pushing back against the GWA’s efforts claiming all workers should be able to vote on unionizing the company. 

In the weeks leading up to today’s vote, workers at Activision Blizzard had grown increasingly frustrated. Meanwhile, amid what employees describe as a chaotic time—there were several major game releases, including October’s best-selling Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2—the company has faced continued external scrutiny and calls for change within the studio. It’s been eight months since the company settled a $18 million lawsuit that alleged widespread misconduct and harassment in Activision Blizzard’s “fratboy” culture, paving the way for massive walkouts, further lawsuits, and a historic unionization effort from QA workers at the company’s Raven Software division. 

The stakes are high. Activision Blizzard remains one of gaming’s biggest companies, and the unions forming within it are setting a precedent for the industry—and telling onlookers who can win.

It’s also the latest bit of heat under a pot that was already bubbling. As Activision Blizzard pushes what critics call union-busting tactics, the relationship between workers and top brass has gotten increasingly tense. In November, the company petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to impound employee ballots on the grounds that the size of the Albany unit is too small and should include the entire staff. 

The NLRB denied that request on Wednesday. “We acknowledge that game design requires an extraordinary degree of functional integration and contact among departments, which weighs in favor of a combined unit,” the NLRB ruled. However, in addition to testers’ “distinct function” and separate departments, they “have notably lower wages than the excluded employees.”

Activision Blizzard spokesperson Joe Christinat says the company still believes the entirety of the Albany team should have been able to participate in that vote. “This is about fundamental fairness for every member of the team, given the close, collaborative way that Blizzard Albany operates, and ensuring that every employee has the right to choose,” he adds.