Activision Blizzard is making over a thousand QA contractors full-time employees
Activision Blizzard has announced that approximately 1,100 QA contractors are being converted to full-time roles, following a turbulent year that both saw contractors speaking out about poor working conditions at the company and a unionization push by QA workers at subsidiary studio Raven Software.
According to an Activision Blizzard spokesperson, both Activision Publishing and Blizzard Entertainment are at the heart of this push. All QA contractors in the United States will be converted to full-time status, and the minimum hourly rate for these roles will be increased to $20/hour.
New employees will also be eligible to receive company benefits and participate in the company's bonus plan.
A statement from the company says that the move is part of a plan to bring "more content to players across our franchises than ever before."
Activision Publishing chief operating officer Josh Taub explained to employees in an email that the teams working on Call of Duty may still experience periods where they needs extra support for quality assurance. To accommodate these periods, he says the studio does plan to bring in "more support" from "external partners."
Head of Blizzard Entertainment Mike Ybarra also e-mailed employees to share the news. He also said that he's spent the last six months speaking with QA employees to outline his philosophy about contract versus full-time roles.
"I want to thank everyone who helped educate me and expressed their views on how we can make Blizzard the best player-focused game studio," he added. "We all know QA is integral to our success in ensuring the best possible gameplay experiences."
This is very good news for QA workers at the company, who have long toiled for low-pay, long hours, and the threat of
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