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Activision Shareholders Approve Xbox Deal, But Wall Street Has Doubts
28.4.2022
Shareholders at Call of Duty and Overwatch 2 publisher Activision Blizzard voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to approve a $69 billion sale to tech giant Microsoft. The deal gives golden parachutes to top execs at Activision, including embattled CEO Bobby Kotick. But despite gaming’s biggest...
Dragon Age 4 QA Devs Say They're Unionizing Over Bad Pay And Covid Safety
27.4.2022
The video game industry is currently undergoing a small but unprecedented wave of developer organizing. Last week it even reached the halls of famed RPG maker BioWare, where a group of QA contractors working on Dragon Age 4 revealed their intention to unionize. The two biggest reasons why? Bad...
BioWare Contractors Supporting On Games Like Mass Effect Seek To Unionize
25.4.2022
Keywords Studios developers working in support of Dragon Age 4 maker BioWare are seeking to unionize. That’s according to an April 20 application filed with the Alberta Labor Relations Board. The staff is preparing for a union vote following recent labor organizing efforts at other game...
The Nintendo of America Contractors Who Feel Like Second Class Workers
22.4.2022
A union-busting complaint recently filed with the National Labor Relations Board accused Nintendo of America and contract worker agency Aston Carter of surveillance, retaliation, and other unfair labor practices. According to four sources familiar with the incident, that complaint, first reported...
Nintendo Worker Files Complaint With National Labor Relations Board
19.4.2022
On April 15, an anonymous employee filed a complaint against Nintendo and contracting company Aston Carter with the National Labor Relations Board. The public case docket lists allegations of coercive statements, discharge, retaliation against concerted activities, and surveillance. Read more
Call Of Duty Maker Announces Raises For QA Workers Amid Unionization Fight
7.4.2022
Activision Blizzard announced a big win for its part-time developers today as it battles an ongoing union push at one of the big studios behind Call of Duty: Warzone. Contract QA staff across the company will be converted to full-time, and also see their minimum hourly rate raised to $20. That’s...
Call Of Duty Execs Accused Of Using Microsoft Deal To Line Their Own Pockets
26.2.2022
Two Activision Blizzard shareholders have filed lawsuits against the Call of Duty publisher for making allegedly inadequate disclosures in its recent filings with the SEC about its deal to sell to Microsoft for $68.7 billion. The investors further alleged that big payouts for CEO Bobby Kotick...
Report: Warzone Devs: "We F**ked Stuff Up. We Broke It."
11.2.2022
In a reported meeting between Call of Duty developers and select content creators and influencers, the Warzone devs admitted that the free-to-play battle royale was in a bad state, telling those in attendance that they had “fucked up” and that the current state of the popular online shooter...
Activision Blizzard Allegedly Wouldn’t Let Call Of Duty Twitch Streamer Run A Team Due To ‘Oversexual’ Posts
4.2.2022
Activision Blizzard, a publisher under a government investigation revolving around sexual harassment at the company, allegedly stopped a Call of Duty personality from leading her own team within a tournament held by her own organization. The reason? She’s claiming that the publisher...
Call Of Duty QA Testers Form Activision Blizzard’s First Union
21.1.2022
Thirty-four quality assurance testers at Raven Software, the Activision Blizzard studio in charge of its massively popular battle royale, Call of Duty: Warzone, announced today that they are unionizing after weeks of striking over recently announced layoffs in their department. Calling themselves...
Raven QA Testers Form Activision Blizzard’s First Union
21.1.2022
Thirty four quality assurance testers at Raven Softwarew, the Activision Blizzard studio in charge of its massively popular battle royale, Call of Duty: Warzone, announced today they are unionizing after weeks of striking over recently announced layoffs in their department. Calling themselves...
Report: Bobby Kotick Meeting Leaves Activision Blizzard Staffers Unimpressed, Worried
20.1.2022
This morning, Bobby Kotick held an all-hands meeting with Activision Blizzard employees to address Microsoft’s acquisition of the company for $68.7 billion dollars. He stated that Microsoft would be trying to “retain as many of our people as possible,” and that he planned to stay on as the CEO...
Call Of Duty: Warzone's Flying Car Problem Is Back In Latest Map
19.1.2022
If you’ve played Call of Duty: Warzone recently, you might’ve seen flying objects in the sky that appear to be aircrafts like helicopters or planes. Well, you’re wrong. They’re actually regular old vehicles such as motorbikes and SUVs that cheaters have hacked to take to the skies…again....
Microsoft Closing In On $50 Billion Deal To Buy Activision Blizzard
17.1.2022
In an extraordinary turn of events, the Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Microsoft is getting near to a deal to buy Activision Blizzard. Which not only would be one of the most major shake-ups in the gaming industry in years, but also could finally spell out the end for its horrendous...
Xbox Boss Not Interested In 'Virtue Shaming' Activision
10.1.2022
Back in November, the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, told staff he was “evaluating all aspects” of the Microsoft gaming division’s relationship with Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard following a bombshell report by The Wall Street Journal of workplace misconduct and coverups at the massive...
Activision Sues Call Of Duty: Warzone Cheat Maker For Selling To 'Tens Of Thousands' Of Players
5.1.2022
Call of Duty publisher Activision is kicking off 2022 by asking a court to shut down Warzone cheat maker EngineOwning, opening up a new legal front in its never-ending war against the hackers plaguing its popular online battle royale. In addition to lost revenue, the company currently under fire...
Call Of Duty Fans Exasperated As Games See Big Problems For Days
21.12.2021
Call of Duty is a sprawling machine with complex moving parts spread out across multiple games and studios, and it appears to currently be overheating, especially on consoles. For days now players have been complaining that 2019’s Modern Warfare is all but broken, while even Warzone players...
Indie Studio Forms First Video Game Union In The Country
15.12.2021
Developers at Vodeo Games, the indie studio behind this year’s excellent turn-based pinball RPG Beast Breaker, revealed over at Polygon today that they’ve unionized. Management at the studio is voluntarily recognizing the newly formed group, called Vodeo Workers Unite, making it the first of...
Activision Exec To Organizing Workers: Pwease Don’t Unionize ????????
10.12.2021
With Activision Blizzard employees more organized than ever in the wake of the company’s multiple sexual harassment lawsuits and layoffs in quality assurance, a top executive apparently felt the time was right to send out a fear-mongering email warning workers about the vague “consequences”...
Geoff Keighley Opens Game Awards With Disappointing Vagueness
10.12.2021
Host Geoff Keighley opened the 2021 Game awards by calling on “everyone” to build a “better, safer” environment for games by voting with their time and their dollars.Read more