Days after Raven Software’s QA staff announced their intention to organize into the Communication Workers of America (CWA), Activision notified workers Monday that the department would be reorganized. The company announced the news on the day Raven’s QA staff returned to work after a week-long strike.
“In November, we started converting our temporary workers [full-time employment] Status,” Raven Software studio head Brian Raffel said in an email to employees. “Now I’m excited to share that our QA colleagues will be embedding themselves directly into various teams across the studio, including animation, art, design, audio, production and engineering.” In the email, Raffel, who “Step to embed our QA team” has been in the works for “several months”.
A spokesperson for Activision Publishing confirmed to Polygon that the studio is moving its QA staff to different departments for “embedding.” The explanation reads in full:
Today, Raven Software released an organizational update that continues the work the studio began in November, which will transition the quality assurance teams to work directly with the animation, art, design, audio, production and engineering -Teams work together within Raven. This change will improve how our teams work together to support our games and players, and provide even better opportunities for our talented QA staff.
This is the next step in a carefully considered process that has been in the works for some time, and this structure brings Raven in line with the best practices of other well-known Activision studios. It’s also a milestone in our broader plan to further integrate QA into the development process as our teams strive to deliver best-in-class coordination in real-time, live service operations.
Though an embedded QA model is reportedly consistent across other Activision Blizzard studios, CWA organization director Tom Smith called the move “nothing more than a tactic to thwart Raven QA staff exercising their right to organize.” Smith is also urging the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission to review the Microsoft merger announced last week, which will move Activision Blizzard under Microsoft Gaming.
“When management uses meaningless buzzwords like ‘alignment’, ‘synergy’ and ‘reorganization’, it sends a message to workers: ‘We make all the decisions, we have all the power,'” he said. “Workers organize to have a voice at work to correct these power imbalances. That’s why big technology mergers that could increase and further concentrate corporate power, like Microsoft’s proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, deserve real scrutiny. This review is all the more important when a company like Activision Blizzard prevents its employees from exercising rights protected under US law.”
Activision Blizzard didn’t respond to Polygon’s question about how this might affect the union, but the spokesman gave more details on the work structure.
“It is correct to say that Raven QA analysts will work directly in different departments, essentially side-by-side with these department staff, on the same platforms and under department oversight,” the spokesperson said. “You will also receive daily tasks from these departments. There will continue to be a QA manager who, in conjunction with department oversight, will continue to be responsible for broader work assignments and overall career development.”
Embedded QA teams are a relatively new standard in the video game industry and at Activision. In practice, this means QA Assurance staff are not left to their own devices and removed from day-to-day game development practices. Activision Blizzard QA staff told Polygon in August that they often felt isolated from the rest of development and, in extreme cases, were asked not to speak to developers. Embedding QA removes these barriers and makes the department part of a larger team.
“For lack of a better term, it really helps humanize the QA process because they’re really a part of the team,” a QA tester told Polygon. “They attend meetings, they give feedback, they constantly talk to the developers they work directly with every day, they’re not just in isolation waiting for the next thing to check.”
They continued, “In my personal opinion, embedded QA is one of the most important things in development and can really make or break a game, so the fact that they worked on such a big franchise without it is frankly an asshole.” “
Other industry experts from triple-A and indie studios shared similar views on social media in response to Raven Software’s reorganization.
The problem for Raven Software’s QA staff is related to how this affects their status and classification as an employee. Raven Software’s Game Workers Alliance is currently awaiting a response from Activision Blizzard on whether the company plans to voluntarily recognize the union. If the company decides against it, the QA workers go to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a vote. Part of this process – outside of voluntary recognition – means that the NLRB will decide whether a group of workers can be classified
A Raven Software QA rep told Polygon the group is still trying to understand how this is affecting unionization at the company.
Update (January 25): Activision Blizzard announced Tuesday that it will not voluntarily recognize Raven Software’s union. The company’s full statement reads as follows:
At Activision Blizzard, we deeply respect the right of all employees to make their own decisions about whether or not to join a union. We carefully reviewed and reviewed the CWA’s original motion last week, trying to find a mutually acceptable solution with the CWA that would have resulted in an expedited election process. Unfortunately, the parties could not come to an agreement.
We expect the union to move forward with petitioning the NLRB for an election. If submitted, the Company will formally respond to this petition promptly. The most important thing to the company is that every eligible employee should have an opportunity to have their voice heard and have their individual vote counted, and we believe every Raven employee should have a say in that decision.
Across the organization, we believe that a direct relationship between managers and team members allows us to react quickly and deliver the strongest outcomes and opportunities for people. As a result of these direct relationships, we have made a number of changes over the past several years, including raising minimum compensation for Raven QA employees by 41%, extending paid time off, expanding access to medical benefits for employees and their spouses, and the conversion of more than 60% of Raven QA’s temporary employees into full-time employees. We look forward to continuing the direct dialogue with our team and working together to improve our workplace.
The company has not issued a statement on how the reorganization may affect union efforts.