Blizzard Albany (formerly Vicarious Visions) QA workers announce union push

Activision Blizzard is asking QA workers from Blizzard Albany (formerly Vicarious Visions) to recognize their union. Game Workers Alliance Albany (GWA Albany) is the name of this group. announced the union push on Twitter. The Washington Post reported this story first.

“QA is currently an undervalued discipline in the games and software industries. We strive to foster work environments where we are respected and compensated for our essential role in the development process,” GWA Albany wrote. “We, the QA testers of Blizzard Albany are committed to fostering an open, diverse, and equitable workplace. We expect an environment in which our talents, ideas and democratic decisions can be valued and appreciated. We have partnered with [Communication Works of America] to form our union.”

GWA Albany asked Activision Blizzard to recognize them as voluntary last week. According CWA Activision Blizzard did not respond to the request. In a statement to Polygon, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson said the company will respond “publicly and formally” to the National Labor Relations Board petition.

You can read the full statement here:

We are committed to our employees as the top priority. Respect for the individual rights of employees to choose whether to join a union is a top priority. The best relationship is one between the employees of the company and their employer. Publicly and formally, the company will respond to the NLRB’s petition.

Washington Post reports that around 20 QA employees are eligible to join the unit. CWA stated that GWA Albany had filed with NLRB. The filing will lead to a vote. The second Activision Blizzard employee to organize under their company is this group, after Raven Software QA employees won their union. Raven Software workers were required to vote in union after Activision Blizzard rejected their request.

Vicarious Visions merged into Blizzard New Albany in April. This 31-year-old studio is most well-known for its work on the Internet. Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2, and for supporting last September’s DiabloResurrected. It’s now entirely focused on Blizzard Entertainment games.

Like the rest of Activision Blizzard, Blizzard Albany will likely be merged with Microsoft following approval of Microsoft’s $68.7B purchase of Activision Blizzard. Should that deal go through, Microsoft has said it will not impede union efforts — in fact, it will stay “neutral” after signing an agreement with CWA. This agreement is expected to go into effect 60 days following the deal’s closure.