Today contract testers are the call of Duty Studio Raven Software has been advised that the studio will have layoffs due on January 28th next year call of Duty Community manager said on Twitter. Confirmed by a source familiar with what was going on in the company Kotaku that the quality assurance team will inquire in one-on-one meetings with management over the next few days at the beginning of December whether they are unemployed.
Raven Software was acquired by Activision in 1997 and is now one of the main developers of Call of Duty titles. The Wisconsin-based company has participated in titles like call of Duty Black Ops
According to Austin O’Brien, a community manager for call of Duty, the Raven Software Quality Assurance team has promised Activision salary increases for months. As it turned out, these ridges were marked with an asterisk. The plan, like ours According to the source, Activision will take over some contract testers from Raven Software, hire some testers permanently, but the vast majority of developers at Raven would be unemployed. The workers who keep their jobs are actually being promoted from $ 17 an hour to $ 18.50 an hour, along with improved benefits and quarterly bonuses. Promises of salary increases and other benefits that never materialize are well-known tactics in the industry for keeping contract workers in hopes of more full-time jobs.
So far, testers say the studio hasn’t been very communicative about these structural changes. Developers got the news about the layoffs mainly through word of mouth, which added to the QA staff’s discomfort. A source said Kotaku: “That wasn’t a normal ending. You have just decided to eviscerate the studio. I’ve heard so far that they have lost 1/3 of their QA and it will last until next week. ” Kotaku
These layoffs came despite Activision Blizzard’s strong third quarter earningshigher than in 2020. This is not the first time Activision Blizzard has cut its workforce in a successful year. CEO Bobby Kotick collected record rewards this march in the midst of a an estimated 190 layoffs. Activision Blizzard too 800 employees laid off 2019 despite “record results”. Kotick has a reputation for tough austerity measures and proud of a “savings culture” in the company. Activision Blizzard is also currently taking significant public scrutiny for gender-based harassment and discrimination, along with fidgety attempts Manage their public image.
“Many amazing, highly skilled testers are being fired from crunch after crunch after crunch after YEARs,” one QA tester wrote on social media. “I’m as angry as I am shocked.”
.
