Nearly 600 quality assurance testers at Activision, many working in its Minnesota office, formed a union back in March 2024. Over two years later, the group, which includes testers getting Modern Warfare 4 ready for its big launch on October 16, has yet to secure its first collective bargaining contract. The Activision developers accuse the Microsoft-owned publisher of failing to live up to the “positive labor management relationship” touted under a now-expired neutrality agreement from back when the union was first formed. They’ve now voted to authorize a strike if things don’t change.
“Bargaining has been a long, exhausting process spanning over two years, with our committee making responsible moves while the company continues to stall on critical issues like wages, accommodations, and worker protections,” AQAU-CWA bargaining committee member and QA functional tester Emily Danko said in a press release. “Despite our efforts to bargain in good faith, meaningful progress has been difficult, leaving key issues unresolved. Our members remain united and continue to mobilize, but we are exploring every option available to secure the fair contract we deserve.”
The Activision developers have accused the Call of Duty publisher of failing to “bargain in good faith” over things like wage increases, guardrails for AI, and how the company uses contractors. A vote to authorize a strike doesn’t mean one will happen, but it does mean the union, represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), has passed the final hurdle before being able to declare a strike at any time.
“Activision has been working in good faith with the CWA for the Central QA team and we have made meaningful progress on a number of issues,” a spokesperson for the company wrote in an email to Kotaku. “Our goal is a fair first contract that supports our QA team members and the long-term success of the business. We remain committed to open dialogue with the union and have offered to meet again on October 21 and 22. We respect our employees’ right to engage in protected activity, including the right to strike. We have plans in place to ensure there is no disruption to players or upcoming game releases.”
While Modern Warfare 4 will release globally over the next week, modern blockbusters always require massive post-launch patches to fix the many issues players discover during the initial release period. A strike could have a major impact on the live-service experience of the game during the pivotal holiday sales period.
“Our offices are working every day on MW4 to ensure the game is the best we can make it,” QA functional tester Jenna Huffman told Kotaku in an email. “In order to continue doing so, our workers expect fair pay, fair treatment, and the fair contract we’ve spent over two years bargaining for.”
She added, “We’re forced to come into work everyday without fair accommodations and we continue to be under constant threat of sweeping layoffs without meaningful protections. Time and time again we’ve asked the company to meet us at the table to resolve these issues, and we’ve seen nothing but delays and unrealistic counters.”
While Microsoft has promised additional layoffs in the months ahead as part of an ongoing reset of Xbox, the QA group has already seen its ranks cut by nearly a third in the years since it first unionized, with the unit made up of just over 400 individuals compared to the nearly 600 it started as in early 2024. “The games still need testing, updates still need to ship, and players still expect quality,” Danko said. “When the workforce shrinks but the work continues, it raises legitimate questions about how that work is redistributed, how workloads change, and whether remaining employees are being asked to do more with less. We shouldn’t have to sacrifice sustainable workloads or quality to make up for staffing cuts.”
One of the key issues is how AI will be implemented across Activision, and specifically in its testing departments. QA is one of the disciplines most often touted as being able to be automated via genAI tools. “QA is more than checking boxes,” Danko continued. “it requires human judgment, contextual understanding, and the ability to recognize problems that automated systems may miss.”
In order to grease the wheels of its big acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Microsoft entered into a temporary labor neutrality agreement with the CWA that set the stage for a unionization spree inside of the company’s gaming division. But the agreement expired last fall, and Activision testers say the mood has shifted as a result. “Since the agreement expired, the company has been significantly bolder in their attempts to push the bounds of status quo, while further slowing the rate of negotiations at the table,” Huffman said.
Back when the Activision testers’ union was first formed, Microsoft deputy general counsel Amy Pannoni said she looked forward to “continuing our positive labor management relationship.” Two years later, they say that sentiment is unrecognizable. “It’s difficult to reconcile that statement with our current bargaining experience. A positive labor-management relationship requires more than supportive words; it requires meaningful engagement, good-faith negotiations, and a willingness to work toward solutions,” Danko said. “After nearly two years, we need to see that commitment reflected in the company’s actions at the table, not just in public statements.”