Warzone QA testers stage walkout days before Pacific Caldera launch
In what is set to be a busy period for Raven Software, QA testers have staged a walkout as a response to layoffs announced by the company on December 3.
On December 3, the gaming industry received the news of significant layoffs taking place at Raven Software. The layoffs mainly involved the Quality Assurance team that works on Warzone content. Just three days later and most of a team of around 40 members are protesting the decision.
With Warzone Pacific’s highly-anticipated launch only two days away, one would imagine that this is a vital time for the company. Those who engaged in the walkout have claimed that they will not return until the layoffs are reversed.
Raven’s Quality Assurance testers stated that the layoffs began on December 3 as individuals were brought into meetings to receive the news. The layoffs came as a shock to the majority of the QA team seeing as they’d been assured that positive changes to the payment structure were on their way.
The detailed statement from the workers below confirms that these changes are arriving after “five weeks of overtime and, before an anticipated end of year crunch.” Their contracts are set to be terminated on January 28th.
The QA testers hope that the walkout will result in permanent full-time positions for the entire team.
A spokesperson from Raven’s parent company Activision has responded to the protest in a recent statement, “We are converting approximately 500 temporary workers to full-time employees in the coming months. Unfortunately, as part of this change, we also have notified 20 temporary workers across studios that their contracts would not be extended.”
It remains to be seen if Activision’s response will encourage employees to return to work. This is going to be a vital week for Activision between the ongoing protests and the launch of new in-game content across Vanguard and Warzone.
For the latest updates concerning this story and the slatted release of Warzone Pacific: Caldera stay tuned to Charlie INTEL.
Image Credits: Activision / Raven Software