With plummeting share prices, calls for their CEO to resign over claims he was aware of employee sexual misconduct, and reports Xbox are evaluating their relationship, the pain continues for Activision Blizzard, with more than 200 staff staging a walkout this week.
This latest corporate upheaval is a result of the company sacking at least a dozen quality assuarance contractors from Raven Software, a studio owned by Activision Blizzard that works on Call Of Duty: Warfare.
The employees had recently relocated to Raven’s base in Wisconsin, but were then served notice they would be sent packing in late January.
The sackings were part of a corporate reorganisation, and initially saw 60 Raven Software employees walking out in sympathy.
The protesting workers were calling for the decision to be reversed, and for the workers to be offered full-time positions.
The Activision Blizzard workers that then walked out were joined by workers from QATX and QAMN. As a sign of solidarity, they took to social media with the hashtag #WeAreRaven.
“It feels like Activision’s toxic culture is starting to bleed into Raven,” a Raven QA tester has said.
Walkouts are becoming all too common at Activision Blizzard, with this the third since July, when a lawsuit was filed by California’s Department Of Fair Employment And Housing. That suit alleged widespread sexual harassment and discrimination.
A second walkout happened in November when more than 150 employees protested at the Blizzard campus in California, and other offices saw similar protests to demand company CEO Bobby Kotick’s removal after a follow-up report alleged he had been aware of the issues but hadn’t addressed them.
Activision Blizzard maintain they are “fully committed to fostering a safe, inclusive and rewarding environment for all our employees around the world.”
