Tech

Raven game staff will vote to form union, NLRB rules


A team of 21 QA testers at Raven Software has received permission from the National Labor Relations Board to conduct a union vote, according to a 27-page ruling from the agency. announced on Friday. Raven’s parent company, Activision Blizzard, failed to respond promptly to a request for voluntary recognition for the new union, the Game Workers Union, in January.

Tensions within the company peaked last December, when one third the team’s QA testers were suddenly fired – after a few months promised to compensation improvement. Raven’s workers started organizing soon after, and joined in the strike lasted for weeks.

However, when they return to work, they are informed that their unit will disband. “Our QA colleagues will be embedding directly into different teams in the studio,” that’s how Brian Raffel, head of Raven Studio put it at the time, a move that seemed intended to thwart consolidation efforts.

Since then, Activision has been trying to convince the NLRB that the distributed nature of the QA team was the basis for rejecting the vote. But according to today’s ruling, the agency did not sign on to that position. According to Jennifer Hadsall, the agency’s regional director, “there is no evidence that QA testers are being phased out or that their roles will fundamentally change with the embedded process.” Activision also tried (and failed) to convince the NLRB that all of Raven Studio’s estimated 230 employees would need to be included in the vote.

“We are pleased that, after reviewing the evidence, the National Labor Relations Board has dismissed an attempt by Raven Software management to undermine our efforts to form a union,” said an organization group. The Game Workers Union organization told Engadget via email. “Now is the time for Raven management to stop trying to stop us from exercising our rights. We look forward to voting for – and winning – our union.”

According to a statement from Activision, the company is “disappointed that a decision that could significantly affect the future of our entire studio would be made by less than 10% of our employees.” The company is also seeking to appeal the NLRB’s ruling.

Raven Software was founded over 30 years ago and has been instrumental in the production of several beloved games like Heretic and Hexen during that time the Golden age of first-person shooter games. Since being acquired by Activision in 1997, its role has largely decreased in maintaining Call of Duty Franchising.

Tensions between Raven and its owners mirrored tensions within Activision Blizzard in general, where statement of sexual misconduct, which is said to be cloaked by the company’s top brass has attracted many workers with ranks and profiles. Staff organized a go for a walk November last year in disgust, spoke out against corporate culture in general and CEO Bobby Kotick in particular. Earlier this week, it was reported that on two separate occasions, Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg used her influence to accuse quash Negative stories about Kotick, her then boyfriend, were published in the British tabloids Daily mail.

The NLRB will begin sending votes to eligible part-time and full-time QA officers who will vote until May 20; a vote count is currently scheduled for May 23.

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