Approximately 600 employees at Activision Publishing, a Microsoft-owned video game company, have voted to unionize, creating the largest video game workers’ union in America. About 390 of the employees, who work in quality assurance, opted to form a union, with eight opposed and 200 not voting.
After the vote count was finalized, Microsoft recognized the union. Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard, as it was previously known, last October for $69 billion, and in an effort to get regulators on board with the deal, it signed a pact stating the company would remain neutral if the employees wanted to unionize with the Communications Workers of America.
“That has been, organizing-wise, a huge blessing,” said Kara Fannon, a member of the union organizing committee who works for Activision. “It has helped with a lot of people who were concerned about union busting or potential retaliation.”
The union aims to negotiate higher pay for the employees, improve job security and boost promotion opportunities for the quality assurance testers, who are often some of the lowest-paid employees in video game development.
