Activision Blizzard to reorganize Raven QA workers amid union efforts

polygon.com:

Days after Raven Software QA workers announced their intention to unionize with the Communication Workers of America (CWA), Activision notified workers Monday that it was reorganizing the department. The company announced the news to staff the day Raven QA workers returned to work after a weeks-long strike.

“In November, we began the process to convert our temporary employees to [full-time employment] status,” Raven Software studio head Brian Raffel said in an email to staff. “Now, I’m excited to share that our QA colleagues will embed directly within various teams across the studio, including Animation, Art, Design, Audio, Production and Engineering.” In the email, Raffel said the “move to embed our QA team” has been in the works for “several months.”

An Activision Publishing spokesperson confirmed to Polygon that the studio was transiting its QA workers to “embed” with different departments. The statement, in full, reads:

Today, Raven Software shared an organizational update that continues the work the studio began in November which will transition Quality Assurance teams to work directly alongside Animation, Art, Design, Audio, Production and Engineering teams within Raven. This change will enhance the collaborative work our teams do to support our games and players and make the opportunities for our talented QA staff even stronger.

This is the next step in a process that has been carefully considered and in the works for some time, and this structure brings Raven into alignment with the best practices of other prominent Activision studios. It is also a milestone in our broader plan to integrate QA more into the development process as our teams strive to deliver best in class coordination in real-time, live service