Raven Software QA staff secure union contract after three years of negotiations

Members of the quality assurance team at Call of Duty developer Raven Software have ratified their first union contract with Microsoft, three years after Activision Blizzard recognized the union, granting further security for the developers.

The details:

• Unionization efforts began at Raven back in early 2022 after a third of its QA team was laid off in December 2021, eventually resulting in the formation of the Game Workers Alliance under the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Then-Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick confirmed that the company had officially recognized the union and would negotiate in “good faith,” though the process was long enough to prompt members to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board accusing the publisher of stalling.
• As reported by journalist Shannon Liao and later confirmed by the CWA, the negotiation process has come to an end with a victory for the 19 unionized QA employees. The union "unanimously voted" to ratify their union contract with Microsoft. “After more than three years of organizing and bargaining, seeing it finally pay off feels incredible,” Raven QA tester and bargaining committee member Erin Hall said. “From day one, we made it a priority to include every voice in the room, and the contract we came out with reflects what we need—better pay, real career paths, and protection from burnout.”
• The contract promises to “eliminate” crunch time, provide clearer job descriptions and promotion opportunities, offer remote working to most employees, force higher-ups to notify QA staff of any mandatory overtime a week in advance, and prevent "excessive overtime on back-to-back weeks." Most notably, the contract also guarantees a 10% wage increase over two years with "additional raises through merit and promotions, after going 18 months without wage increases and 45 months without promotions.”

More gaming news:

• BioShock 4 has failed an internal review resulting in the project's leadership being replaced.
• It has been claimed by Edward Kenway actor Matt Ryan that Ubisoft had threatened to sue him after he teased that a remake of Assassin's Creed Black Flag was on the way during a conversation with a fan.