Proletariat, an Activision Blizzard-owned studio that worked on World of Warcraft, withdrew the merger request following “confrontational tactics” from both the parent company and the current CEO.
According to the report of GamesIndustry.biz, the US Media Workers made the decision after realizing that Activision Blizzard was making it “impossible” to hold a “fair and free election”. According to a union representative, Proletariat CEO Seth Sivak was influenced by Activision Blizzard’s anti-union stance and began holding meetings that “dismayed and disempowered the group.”
“Unfortunately, Proletariat CEO Seth Sivak has chosen to follow Activision Blizzard’s lead and respond to workers’ desire to form a union with confrontational tactics,” a company representative said. said the group. “Like many founders, he treated workers’ concerns as a personal attack and organized a series of meetings that demoralized and disarmed the group, prompting a free election. due and fair is not possible.
“As we saw at Microsoft’s Zenimax studio, there is another way forward, one that empowers workers through a free and fair process, free from intimidation or manipulation by employers. We will continue to advocate alongside workers in the video game industry for better working conditions, higher standards and a union voice.”
Activision Blizzard acquired Proletariat last summer to help satisfy players’ “vulnerable appetites” for new World of Warcraft content. Following the deal, CEO Bobby Kotick said the company plans to hire “hundreds” more developers over the next two years to “serve the needs” of the WoW player base. In addition, the intention of the company is to fully integrate Proletariat with Activision Blizzard.
However, shortly after being acquired, the Proletariat announced its decision to merge. Earlier this year, the studio made the news after it was revealed that leaders refuse to voluntarily acknowledge union efforts. Instead, management submitted a union vote through the National Labor Relations Board, which it claimed was fairer because it would allow employees to receive “all the information and many different points of view.” The Union of Proletarian Workers criticized the move, saying the leadership’s actions were not “pro-worker” but “sprung from the anti-union dramatized by Activision and a lot of other people use it.”
“We can decide for ourselves if we want a union,” Declaration of the Union of Proletarian Workers read. “We don’t need help from management. We need – and deserve – to be respected and neutral. We want our team to do the right thing and work with management without controversy. “
The Union of Proletarian Workers is not the first union that Activision Blizzard has refused to recognize. Workers ensure quality at both crow software and Snowstorm Albany sought to get their unions recognized by the leadership only to be met with a similar request through the National Labor Relations Board. Both unions then held elections through the NLRB and eventually won the right to form a union, despite the parent company’s claims that the QA staff at each studio were not eligible to join the union. group.
Although it is uncertain what the next move of the Proletariat will be, it is worth noting that, if Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard has cleared regulatory hurdles, it will eventually become much easier to unify studios within the company. This is thanks to a neutral agreement on labor Microsoft signed on last year, which will make it much easier for employees to complete unions.
Update: Shortly after this story was published, a Blizzard spokesperson reached out for a statement regarding Proletariat’s decision.
“We appreciate that TTK unilaterally decided to withdraw the lawsuit against the staff’s feedback,” the representative wrote. “As we have stated, we welcome the opportunity for each employee to safely express his or her interests through a secret vote. Our team at Proletariat works extraordinary every day. They remain focused on continuing to make Proletariat a place where everyone can thrive, prosper, and be part of a great team and culture.”
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