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Second Activision Blizzard Worker Group Launches Union Drive With CWA
A new group of workers at video game behemoth Activision Blizzard is launching an attempt at unionization with the Communications Workers of America. Quality assurance (QA) testers at Blizzard Albany in New York have organized and are asking for voluntary recognition of their group from management, the workers tweeted on Tuesday. On Tuesday they additionally […]
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Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Deal Being Probed by U.K. Competition Watchdog
Britain’s competition watchdog said on Wednesday that it was launching an investigation into Microsoft’s deal to acquire video game giant Activision Blizzard. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) set a Sept. 1 deadline to make a so-called phase 1 decision on whether the planned venture would also result in lesser competition. The CMA said that […]
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Major Workers’ Union Backs Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard Deal in FTC Letter
After reaching a labor neutrality agreement with Microsoft earlier in June, the Communications Workers of America has sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission supporting the tech giant’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard. The president of the labor union, which in late May successfully established Activision Blizzard’s first certified […]
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Activision Blizzard Worker Group Votes to Unionize in NLRB Election
The first worker group within video game giant Activision Blizzard to formally attempt to unionize has prevailed in a National Labor Relations Board election. Nineteen Quality Assurance (QA) testers at the Wisconsin-based Activision Blizzard subsidiary Raven Software voted in favor of the union in a Monday vote, while three members voted against the union. The desired […]
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Union Files New Unfair Labor Practices Charge Against Activision Blizzard
As the Communications Workers of America continues to battle to establish its first union within Activision Blizzard, the labor giant has filed a new unfair labor practices charge against the company. The CWA, which is currently attempting to institute a union at company subsidiary Raven Software representing Quality Assurance workers, filed a complaint claiming that […]
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Activision Blizzard First-Quarter Earnings Drop on Lower ‘Call of Duty’ Results, Microsoft Deal Costs
Activision Blizzard reported first-quarter revenue of $1.8 billion Monday, in line with Wall Street expectations, though below its first-quarter results of $2.3 billion from 2021. The video game publisher recorded net bookings of $1.5 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2022, down from $2.1 billion in the same quarter of 2021. In-game net bookings […]
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Activision Blizzard Fends Off Shareholder Class Action Lawsuit Over Sexual Harassment Disclosures
Facing legal battles on numerous fronts, Activision Blizzard has won a skirmish with a federal judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit from shareholders alleging the company lied to them by minimizing the impact of allegedly widespread sexual harassment and discrimination against female employees. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson on Tuesday found that the investors failed to […]
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Activision Blizzard Cooperating With Regulators’ Asks About Alleged Insider Trading
Activision Blizzard is cooperating with a federal lawsuit and investigation into suspected insider trading that allegedly may have been facilitated by chief executive Bobby Kotick just days before the video game publisher was acquired by Microsoft, according to a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Activision Blizzard received a voluntary request for information from […]
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Civil Rights Agency Lawyer Accuses Gavin Newsom of Interfering With Activision Lawsuit
A high-ranking attorney at California’s civil rights enforcement agency has resigned, accusing the governor’s office of meddling with a discrimination lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. Department of Fair Employment and Housing assistant chief counsel Melanie Proctor on Tuesday quit in protest of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s termination of chief counsel Janette Wipper in March, a lawyer representing […]
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Activision Blizzard Hires Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer
As the company continues to reckon with workplace culture controversies and lawsuits, Activision Blizzard has named Kristen Hines as its first chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer. Hines, a former Accenture executive that led that company’s DEI efforts, will begin at Activision Blizzard on April 25 and will report to the company’s chief people officer, […]
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Amid Union Effort, Activision Blizzard Converts QA Workers to Full-Time Staff
Amid a unionization effort by Quality Assurance (QA) employees at a subsidiary, Activision Blizzard units Activision Publishing and Blizzard said on Thursday that they are converting all U.S.-based temporary and contingent QA workers to full-time employees. The change is being accompanied by a pay raise, with these workers’ minimum hourly rates rising to at least […]
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Activision Blizzard Settles Federal Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Over Objection From California
A judge blessed a deal between Activision Blizzard and a federal agency that resolves one of numerous sexual harassment lawsuits the video game publisher faces, despite concerns that the agreement may undermine California’s pursuit of further damages in a separate case. The company, which awaits permission to be acquired by Microsoft in an deal that […]
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