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What Happened When Activision QA Workers Voted to Unionize?

Raven Software’s QA workers voted for Game Workers Alliance-CWA in May 2022. Here’s how the election differed from later Activision QA organizing and what followed.
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In May 2022, quality assurance workers at Raven Software in Wisconsin voted to form Game Workers Alliance-CWA, represented by the Communications Workers of America. CWA reported that 86% of votes supported union representation. The election covered Raven’s QA workers—not every quality assurance employee at Activision Blizzard.

Who voted, and what did they choose?

The vote was held by QA workers at Raven Software, an Activision Blizzard studio in Wisconsin. They chose representation by Communications Workers of America (CWA) as Game Workers Alliance-CWA. CWA reported 86% support, but the official pages cited here do not provide the underlying ballot tally, so a verified vote count cannot be stated.

The vote followed a workplace dispute that CWA connected to layoffs. The union said that on December 6, 2021, more than 60 Raven workers walked out after 12 QA testers were laid off, and that the stoppage lasted five weeks. That account is CWA’s framing of the events, rather than an independent finding about the workers’ motives. CWA’s election announcement described the workers’ hopes for the new organization: “Our biggest hope is that our union serves as inspiration for the growing movement of workers organizing at video game studios to create better games and build workplaces that reflect our values and empower all of us.”

What did Activision Blizzard announce after the election?

On June 10, 2022, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said the company would negotiate with CWA concerning 27 Raven QA employees. His employee letter stated: “I wanted to share the news that we will begin negotiations with the Communications Workers of America related to the 27 quality assurance employees at Raven Software, the majority of whom have chosen to be represented by this union.” The 27 figure was the company’s description of the negotiating group, not the size of Activision Blizzard’s overall QA workforce. Activision Blizzard’s announcement framed the next step as working toward a collective bargaining agreement.

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What happened to the Raven bargaining unit?

In 2025, CWA reported that Raven workers unanimously ratified their first contract with Microsoft after more than three years of organizing and bargaining. Microsoft had become the relevant employer following its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The union’s account of the agreement listed a guaranteed 10-percent wage increase over two years, additional raises through merit and promotions, overtime notice and limits, defined job descriptions, a promotions process, disability accommodations, and layoff protections. These are terms as reported by CWA, not a full reproduction of the contract. CWA’s contract announcement quoted Raven QA tester and bargaining committee member Erin Hall: “After more than three years of organizing and bargaining, seeing it finally pay off feels incredible.”

How is the later Activision central QA union different?

In 2024, CWA reported a separate organizing milestone: Microsoft recognized Activision Quality Assurance United-CWA, a central QA unit of approximately 600 workers across California, Texas, and Minnesota. That group is distinct from Raven’s Wisconsin-based unit, which held the May 2022 vote and later ratified its own contract. The dates, covered employees, and bargaining milestones should not be conflated.

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There were other separate QA organizing events as well. Activision Blizzard’s 2023 proxy statement records that Blizzard QA workers voted in December 2022; it also notes that CWA withdrew a Proletariat petition in January 2023. Those events do not change who voted in Raven’s May election. The company’s proxy statement provides that corporate record. CWA later reported a separate three-year Microsoft contract ratified by Blizzard Albany and Austin QA workers, covering more than 60 people and including provisions on wages, AI use, crediting, accommodations, immigrant-worker protections, and overtime. That contract report concerns those locations, not the Raven unit.

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What the later NLRB docket does—and does not—show

A separate National Labor Relations Board docket, case 18-CA-349076, concerns Raven Software, Activision Publishing, and Microsoft. It lists an August 23, 2024 filing date, a closed status, and an August 2025 approval of a withdrawal request. The docket includes allegations about bargaining, employment changes, and concerted activity; allegations are not findings of liability. Nor is this later case docket the record of the 2022 union election. The NLRB case page identifies the docket and its status.

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