Labor organizers: Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard won’t stop us

On Tuesday Microsoft announced its plan to acquire Activision Blizzard — makers of Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush, and many other popular video game franchises — for a reported $68.7 billion. This move is taking place amid rising tensions between Activision Blizzard leaders and union workers. Organizers say that despite the distraction and the potential for new leadership, the fight for worker’s rights at Activision Blizzard is still ongoing.

In a statement Tuesday on Twitter, the Activision Blizzard King Workers’ Alliance was adamant that the change must come from the top of the company — regardless of who its owner is.

“The news of Activision’s acquisition by Microsoft is surprising,” said the Activision Blizzard King Worker’s Alliance in a statement today on Twitter, “but does not change the goals of the ABK Worker’s Alliance. We remain committed to fighting for workplace improvement and the rights of our employees regardless of who is financially in control of the company.”

It’s a situation that Activision Blizzard has largely brought upon itself. This story started last summer when Kotaku reported in detail about the hostile working environment that existed for decades. September 2021 saw the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission also joined the fight against Activision Blizzard, filing a formal lawsuit in September 2021. The EEOC claimed in the complaint that Activision Blizzard had subjected its employees to harassment and discrimination during pregnancy. While the matter was finally settled for $18million, more disturbing tales have surfaced over the months and weeks that followed. One worker said the company suffers from an “alcohol-soaked culture of sexual harassment.”

In August 2021, the ABK Workers Alliance was created to help its workers improve their working conditions. That effort is still ongoing — including at Raven Software, where workers are currently in their fifth week of a strike to protest layoffs. Others include the demand for Bobby Kotick’s resignation as Activision Blizzard CEO, even though he was central to many of its scandals.

“Whatever the leadership structure of the company,” ABK Workers Alliance concluded in its statement, “we will continue our push to #EndAbuseInGaming, and appreciate the outpouring of support we’ve experienced in the last year.” The organization is currently accepting donations to support the striking workers at Raven Software, makers of Warzone: The Call of Duty.

The Communication Workers of America (CWA), one of the nation’s largest and most influential labor unions, supports the ABK Workers Alliance in its efforts to unionize. The CWA also made a statement Tuesday.

“The proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft would represent a major change to the gaming industry and significantly strengthen Microsoft’s competitive position at a critical time in the industry’s evolution,” CWA president Christopher M. Shelton said in a statement sent to Polygon. “Before any approval of this proposed deal, the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, and states Attorneys General must all carefully consider the impacts on consumers and American workers, especially Activision Blizzard employees who have been trying to improve working conditions and raising up troubling issues regarding company culture of sexist and discriminatory cultural practices, pay inequity, workplace harassment and abuse.

“Activision Blizzard’s response to its employees’ concerns has been repeated surveillance, intimidation tactics, and the hiring of notorious union busters,” Shelton continued. “Activision Blizzard worker concerns must be addressed in any plan — acquisition or not — on the future direction of the company.”