Activision Blizzard is converting over 1,000 QA workers to full-time employees

pcgamer.com:

Activision Blizzard has announced that all «temporary and contingent» QA workers at its Activision Publishing and Blizzard divisions, a group of «nearly 1,100 people,» will be converted from contractors to full-time employees on July 1. The company also said that the hourly wage for most those positions will be increased to a minimum of $20, and that the new employees will receive «full company benefits» and be eligible for its bonus plan.

«Across Activision Blizzard, we are bringing more content to players across our franchises than ever before,» an Activision Blizzard spokesperson said in an email sent to PC Gamer. «As a result, we are refining how our teams work together to develop our games and deliver the best possible experiences for our players. We have ambitious plans for the future and our Quality Assurance team members are a critical part of our development efforts.»

The move comes in the wake of employee unrest sparked by a July 2021 lawsuit filed by California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleging widespread harassment, discrimination, and a «frat boy» culture at the company. That led to calls for the removal of CEO Bobby Kotick and ongoing unionization efforts that began in earnest last year when Call of Duty developer Raven Software's QA team walked off the job to protest a round of planned layoffs of contract workers. Activision pushed back but failed to stem the tide, and the Game Workers Alliance—the first videogame industry union at a major North American studio—was announced in January.

One catch is that the QA employees at Raven Software will not receive the base pay increase «due to legal obligations under the National Labor Relations Act,» an Activision Blizzard spokesperson told