Quality assurance (QA) testers at Blizzard’s Albany studio have gone public with their unionisation efforts. The group of approximately 20 employees has filed for a union election with the National Labour Relations Board. 

In an interview with The Washington Post, associate test analyst Amanda Laven elaborated on the decision to unionise, “I firmly believe that having the union is going to give us the power that we need to make our workplace better. It’s very exciting to go public with it and hopefully be able to inspire others the way that we’ve been inspired by Raven, and Starbucks and Amazon and all the unions that have come before us.” 

As mentioned by Laven above, the QA testers at Raven Software, another subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, successfully unionised a few months ago. Laven acknowledges that Raven were a big inspiration to them as they’ve been able to seek advice from a group of people who have already accomplished what they wish to do. 

The group is calling the union, the Game Workers Alliance Albany (GWA), the lack of specificity is to give other groups within the Activision Blizzard ecosystem a chance to join the group if they wish. In a Twitter thread posted earlier today, the newly-formed union announced their intentions publicly. 

“Today, we announce a new union at Activision Blizzard. QA is currently an undervalued discipline in the games and software industries. We strive to foster work environments where we are respected and compensated for our essential role in the development process.”

GWA Albany specifies that they are looking to secure competitive and fair compensation, pay transparency, improved benefits and improved healthcare coverage. Additionally, they want to address disparities in titles and compensation, establish transparent lines of communication for addressing workplace problems and improve work-life balance, especially so when it comes to crunch. 

Microsoft, which is set to acquire Activision Blizzard in a massive deal, FTC willing, has taken a neutral stance on unions, committing to not standing in the way of workers who wish to unionise.Â