Blizzard

Raven employees who formed the union didn't receive pay rises earlier this year.

[the move has already sparked others to follow suit](/dragon-age-next/55852/news/dragon-age-4-quality-assurance-workers-are-applying-to-form-a-union). 405 (1964)](https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/375/405/). [The Washington Post](https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/10/03/activision-raven-union-raises-nlrb/), the NLRB's findings will likely fall in favor of the Raven employees in their ongoing negotiations with Activision Blizzard. The company was found to be actively discouraging the union efforts, however, as [it sent emails to employees that read: "Please vote no"](https://www.ign.com/articles/activision-blizzard-sending-anti-union-emails). Activision Blizzard has disputed this, however, saying it wasn't possible to offer raises due to "legal obligations". government's National Labor Relations Board has found that Call of Duty and Overwatch publisher Activision Blizzard withheld pay raises from some Raven Software employees as a result of their unionization.

The USA's National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has found that Activision Blizzard withheld pay raises from Raven Software quality assurance staff because ...

Activision Blizzard's [culture and significant prior failings](https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-blizzard-lawsuit-controversy-timeline-explained/) (opens in new tab) have been under the spotlight as part of this and it says something that, once again, its past behaviour has attracted this kind of legal attention from a government agency. [improvements to their working conditions in April](https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-blizzard-is-converting-over-1000-qa-workers-to-full-time-employees/) (opens in new tab) this year. [union contract negotiations](https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-blizzard-changes-course-will-recognize-and-negotiate-with-raven-qa-union/) (opens in new tab) between Activision and QA testers at Raven. QA staff at Raven [voted 19-3 to form a union](https://www.pcgamer.com/raven-software-qa-testers-become-first-union-at-a-major-us-developer/) (opens in new tab) back in May this year, becoming the first union to form at a major North American game developer in the process. Wilma Liebman, former NLRB chair, told the Post that the Board's findings are a "very preliminary win" for the QA staff, who can use it as leverage in their back-and-forth with Activision. An Activision spokesperson told the Post that it was precisely this vote that stopped the company from offering pay increases to involved employees.

The National Labor Relations Board has found merit to several allegations of unfair labor practices at Activision Blizzard subsidiary Raven Software, ...

In December 2021 the union claimed that the company had made “coercive statements,” a charge that was [dismissed](https://www.nlrb.gov/case/31-CA-287568) by the labor board in June. [which the NLRB encourages](https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/what-we-do/investigate-charges). The union alleged that this violated section 8(a)(3) of the National Labor Relations Act, which covers discrimination against employees for participating in organizing. The NLRB has yet to release findings about these outstanding claims. Activision Blizzard maintains that the company disagrees with Region 18’s early conclusions. We’re glad the NLRB recognized that Activision acted illegally when they unequally enforced policies by withholding company-wide benefits and wage increase from Raven workers for organizing.” Meanwhile, the Raven Software QA worker union is still negotiating its first contract with Activision Blizzard. It’s not uncommon for the NLRB to confirm early findings in investigations with the media. [the union alleged](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/activision-blizzard-labor-charge-union-complaint-nlrb-1235138225/) that the company “threatened employees that they should not discuss issues concerning wages hours [sic] and working conditions on Slack” and in August the union further charged that the company had terminated a chat channel where workers were discussing “wages, hours and working condition [sic],” an allegation the company denied; results of those NLRB investigations have not yet been disclosed. Regarding the claim about withholding raises, a company spokesperson says in a statement, “Due to legal obligations under the NLRA requiring employers not to grant wage increases while an election was pending, we could not institute new pay initiatives at Raven because they would be brand new kinds of compensation changes, which had not been planned beforehand.” When it comes to the finding about soliciting grievance, the company spokesperson says that this depiction is not “accurate” and that “Although Raven QA was offered a non-mandatory opportunity to meet with Activision Blizzard leadership during an on-site visit, because some of the QA testers had previously requested a discussion with management, at no point was this framed as an opportunity to specifically address grievances. The investigation into other charges, which CWA [Labor](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/labor/) Relations Board has found merit to several allegations of unfair labor practices at [Activision Blizzard](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t/activision-blizzard/) subsidiary Raven Software, which faced its first [successful union drive](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/activision-blizzard-worker-group-votes-unionize-nlrb-election-1235151327/) earlier this year.

The National Labor Relations Board found that Activision Blizzard purposely held back raises from Raven Software QA testers involved in union activity.

It remains to be seen what kind of consequences the NLRB will have for Activision Blizzard following the findings of its investigation. A join complaint was filed to NLRB, alleging that Activision Blizzard discriminated and retaliated against current and former QA testers at Raven Software for their union activity. That has included the efforts of Raven Software quality assurance (QA) testers unionizing within the company.

The National Labor Relations Board is accusing Activision Blizzard of withholding raises from unionizing QA workers at its Raven Software subsidiary.

That leaves companies like Activision Blizzard in the position of having to explain that planned changes (like raises for QA employees) were part of an established plan or practice that pre-dated unionizing activity." Furthermore, the offer was never taken, and no meeting ever occurred," said an Activision Blizzard spokesperson. "Sometimes people say things not understanding the potential repercussions," he noted wrly. This rule that employers should not grant these kinds of wage increases has been the law for many years," commented the company. Although Raven QA was offered a non-mandatory opportunity to meet with Activision Blizzard leadership during an on-site visit, because some of the QA testers had previously requested a discussion with management, at no point was this framed as an opportunity to specifically address grievances. If a deal can't be agreed, however, there's now a chance the NLRB could file a complaint against Activision Blizzard or even seek to prosecute the case in federal court.

Microsoft has launched a website to show the benefits of Xbox's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, a deal that's been widely scrutinised for its potential ...

Xbox has created a webpage specificially for its Activision Blizzard acquisition, using it to detail how it will benefit various groups.

Microsoft now has a dedicated section of its website aimed at explaining its acquisition of Activision Blizzard and what it means for gamers.

Microsoft has launched a new site arguing the benefits of the deal…

Players have reported unexpected server errors and difficulties joining Overwatch 2 games throughout the evening following today's free-to-play launch, with ...

Become a supporter of Eurogamer and you can view the site completely ad-free, as well as gaining exclusive access to articles, podcasts and conversations that will bring you closer to the team, the stories, and the games we all love. "Unfortunately we are experiencing a mass DDoS attack on our servers," he wrote. "Teams are working hard to mitigate/manage.

The US National Labor Relations Board finds that Activision Blizzard denied Raven Software QA testers raises in retaliation for them unionizing.

Microsoft's latest marketing endeavor explains what the various upsides of its acquisition of Activision Blizzard would be, promising improvements.

Overwatch 2 servers were attacked two times after its launch, which prevented many players from joining the servers and playing the game on day one.

According to TechCrunch, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that Activision Blizzard, an interactive gaming and entertainment company,

The National Labour Relations Board (NRLB) has found that Activision Blizzard withheld raises from union campaigners at subsidiary Raven Software.