The last few years have seen more videogame developers unionising in an effort to ensure the industry offers sustainable careers for all, and the quality assurance workers of Blizzard have just secured a huge win by ratifying a contract with parent company Microsoft.
As reported by Game Developer, QA workers at Blizzard's Albany and Austin studios have ratified a union contract after almost three years of negotiating. That sounds like an awfully long time to me, but it seems to be the going rate for union contracts with Microsoft—Raven's QA workers also took three years to get theirs sorted. Fortunately, it all paid off in the end, because now 60+ workers are covered by the new agreement and it offers them a number of significant benefits.
A statement provided by the Communications Workers of America—the union that represents the workers—confirms that the QA staff will have guaranteed wage increases; more regulations on AI and generative AI usage at work to ensure workers are supported, not replaced; protections on fair crediting; disability accommodations; immigrant worker protection; and restrictions on "mandatory 'crunch time' or excessive overtime hours."
All in all, this is a huge win for the QA workers at Blizzard. "At a time when layoffs are hitting our industry hard, today is another big step in building a better future for videogame workers at every level," says CWA Albany member and Blizzard Albany quality analyst Brock Davis. "For quality assurance testers, this contract provides us wages to live on, increased job security benefits, and guardrails around artificial intelligence in the workplace."
"This agreement gives us a better working environment with increased pay, benefits, and layoff protections that include recall rights and ensures that quality assurance work remains a stable and respected role for the workers who will build games long after us," says CWA Austin member and Blizzard Austin senior quality analyst Matt Gant.
Meanwhile, in France, five separate unions have called for a "massive international strike" at Ubisoft, and in the UK last year Rockstar faced legal action after firing more than 30 employees in a move the Independent Workers of Great Britain claims was "plain and simple union busting." Rockstar has denied the claim, saying the workers were fired for leaking secrets in a public forum.
