A Formal Thread about Activision/Blizzard

[Bedinsis]

As a note on this, the statement they put from the CCO was beyond bad and we've taken a formal stance to not cover Activision Blizzard products until we hear that this is being taken seriously and things change. There's so many people on Twitter that have come forward, and even the current leads at the studios aren't happy with Activision corporate.

We're not really a traditional games media outlet anymore, so this felt like the right step to take at this time.

Call of Duty: Vanguard - Zero Punctuation - The Escapist

This week in Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee Croshaw reviews Call of Duty: Vanguard from Sledgehammer Games and Activision Blizzard.

www.escapistmagazine.com

So, have whatever you've heard convinced you?

 

[BrawlMan]

​

 

[Samtemdo8]

​

Is this about the Jeffery Epstein thing?

 

[Nick Calandra]

Call of Duty: Vanguard - Zero Punctuation - The Escapist

This week in Zero Punctuation, Yahtzee Croshaw reviews Call of Duty: Vanguard from Sledgehammer Games and Activision Blizzard.

www.escapistmagazine.com

So, have whatever you've heard convinced you?

Sigh. The ABK Twitter posted updates when we were deciding what to do for COD: Vanguard review that certain changes that they wanted made were made. ZP reviews are decided two or three weeks in advance because it takes a week for Yahtzee to play the game, then the video, etc.

Based on their update, we went ahead with the review, and then when it was in progress, the stuff came out about Kotick.

So yea, it's an evolving situation and we're back to not bothering with Activision stuff until we hear other guidance from the ABK Twitter.

 

[BrawlMan]

Is this about the Jeffery Epstein thing?

Yes.

Sigh. The ABK Twitter posted updates when we were deciding what to do for COD: Vanguard review that certain changes that they wanted made were made. ZP reviews are decided two or three weeks in advance because it takes a week for Yahtzee to play the game, then the video, etc.

Based on their update, we went ahead with the review, and then when it was in progress, the stuff came out about Kotick.

So yea, it's an evolving situation and we're back to not bothering with Activision stuff until we hear other guidance from the ABK Twitter.

Mistakes happen. Plus, you could not have predicted everything. You are wisely proceeding with caution and doing the right thing.

 

[Bedinsis]

Sigh. The ABK Twitter posted updates when we were deciding what to do for COD: Vanguard review that certain changes that they wanted made were made. ZP reviews are decided two or three weeks in advance because it takes a week for Yahtzee to play the game, then the video, etc.

Based on their update, we went ahead with the review, and then when it was in progress, the stuff came out about Kotick.

So yea, it's an evolving situation and we're back to not bothering with Activision stuff until we hear other guidance from the ABK Twitter.

I see. Thanks for answering.

What's the ABK Twitter?

 

[Nick Calandra]

I see. Thanks for answering.

What's the ABK Twitter?

It's the Union but not Union of Activision that was providing updates on the whole situation when this stuff first came out. ABetterABK ABK Workers Alliance (@ABetterABK) / Twitter

That being said, the Twitter feels a bit unprofessional to me and it's hard to know what's a real update and what's someone just venting sometime, to be very honest about it. Doing our best to keep up with it.

 

[Samtemdo8]

It's the Union but not Union of Activision that was providing updates on the whole situation when this stuff first came out. ABetterABK ABK Workers Alliance (@ABetterABK) / Twitter

That being said, the Twitter feels a bit unprofessional to me and it's hard to know what's a real update and what's someone just venting sometime, to be very honest about it. Doing our best to keep up with it.

Wait, Activision has a Union?

 

[Nick Calandra]

Wait, Activision has a Union?

It's not a formal thing. Like I said, that account is what's representing their like stand-in union or whatever you wanna call it, but it doesn't feel like it's run by a professional most days. Most outlets will refer you to that account though to stay up to date with current happenings at ACTI/BLIZZ.

 

[Samtemdo8]

 

[CriticalGaming]

It's the Union but not Union of Activision that was providing updates on the whole situation when this stuff first came out. ABetterABK ABK Workers Alliance (@ABetterABK) / Twitter

That being said, the Twitter feels a bit unprofessional to me and it's hard to know what's a real update and what's someone just venting sometime, to be very honest about it. Doing our best to keep up with it.

Doesn't it stand for Acitvision/Blizzard/King?

 

[BrawlMan]

This does not surprise me in the slightest. They will talk about how much revenue they made from it, yet will say video games are too expensive to make at the same time.

Call of Duty made billions recently, so of course Activision Blizzard is laying off QA

Some contractors are stuck waiting to see if they’ll keep their jobs

www.theverge.com

Call of Duty QA Testers Face Layoffs After Reportedly Being Promised Raises By Activision

Raven Software quality assurance testers say management has not been transparent with them

kotaku.com

 

[Samtemdo8]

This does not surprise me in the slightest. They will talk about how much revenue they made from it, yet will say video games are too expensive to make at the same time.

Call of Duty made billions recently, so of course Activision Blizzard is laying off QA

Some contractors are stuck waiting to see if they’ll keep their jobs

www.theverge.com

Call of Duty QA Testers Face Layoffs After Reportedly Being Promised Raises By Activision

Raven Software quality assurance testers say management has not been transparent with them

kotaku.com

Which QA is this?

Quality Assurance or Questions and Answers?

 

[BrawlMan]

Which QA is this?

Quality Assurance or Questions and Answers?

Most likely the first one you mentioned.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

This does not surprise me in the slightest. They will talk about how much revenue they made from it, yet will say video games are too expensive to make at the same time.

Call of Duty made billions recently, so of course Activision Blizzard is laying off QA

Some contractors are stuck waiting to see if they’ll keep their jobs

www.theverge.com

Remember: EA told us that they couldn't take microtransactions out of games because they were too expensive to make, but then told shareholders that taking microtransactions out of Battlefront II wouldn't hurt their bottom line. They were either lying to us or lying to shareholders, and the second one is illegal.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

This does not surprise me in the slightest. They will talk about how much revenue they made from it, yet will say video games are too expensive to make at the same time.

Call of Duty made billions recently, so of course Activision Blizzard is laying off QA

Some contractors are stuck waiting to see if they’ll keep their jobs

www.theverge.com

Call of Duty QA Testers Face Layoffs After Reportedly Being Promised Raises By Activision

Raven Software quality assurance testers say management has not been transparent with them

kotaku.com

That's pretty normal for contractor work though, that's why they're hired as contractors. You hire them for a specific length of time and then don't extend their contract once the work is done, but you might rehire them again when there's more work.

I think that most companies are using way more contractors than they should, and I think that there should be some significant legal limits on when someone can be hired as a contractor versus an employee. Right now companies are basically trying to hire as many contractors as possible so that they don't have to pay the people working for them benefits, which is fucked up. It's hardly a problem with Activision Blizzard or the video game industry, it's a problem with employers in the US in general right now.

 

[BrawlMan]

That's pretty normal for contractor work though, that's why they're hired as contractors. You hire them for a specific length of time and then don't extend their contract once the work is done, but you might rehire them again when there's more work.

Doesn't matter. They were promised more pay and got 0. Kicked and booted out of the door, despite them doing their job. Fuck Activision; they knew what they were doing, and did the same to developers and QA testers that weren't contractors. So fuck them and the whole, "Well, actually..." bullshit and "legal" loophole.

I think that most companies are using why more contractors than they should, and I think that there should be some significant legal limits on when someone can be hired as a contractor versus an employee. Right now companies are basically trying to hire as many contractors as possible so that they don't have to pay the people working for them benefits, which is fucked up. It's hardly a problem with Activision Blizzard or the video game industry, it's a problem with employers in the US in general right now.

I know. The electrical and mechanical engineering are so guilty of this in the automotive industry.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Doesn't matter. They were promised more pay and got 0. Kicked and booted out of the door, despite them doing their job. Fuck Activision; they knew what they were doing, and did the same to developers and QA testers that weren't contractors. So fuck them and the whole, "Well, actually..." bullshit and "legal" loophole.

Well, no that's not actually what happened. Raven software told their employees that they would be getting raises, which they did. They went from $17 an hour to $18.50. They also didn't renew the contracts of a large number of their contractors. These are separate things that the article is lumping together.

That's the problem with being a contractor, you have no idea if your contract is actually going to be renewed. The promise seems to have been "next year QA testers are getting a raise" and they did. What also happened is a bunch of contracts that expire at the end of the year didn't get renewed.

The article is framing this as some sinister thing where the company is sacrificing a portion of its work force in order to be able to afford a raise for the rest of the people there, and that's actually not what happened. The raise is independent of the contractors that are being laid off. Contracts expiring happens at the end of every year and that's a totally normal thing in a ton of different industries, especially ones that have peaks and valleys in their work cycles.

What should be the focus here is that contractor work and the gig economy are fucked up and that companies including Activision Blizzard are exploiting contractors. That however is a major issue not just in the games industry, or even in tech, but it's a loophole that a lot of massive companies are exploiting for profit.

There was a recent referendum in California that wanted to re-categorize Uber and Lyft drivers as employees rather than contractors, which ended up failing because people were worried that the average price of an Uber ride would go up. We need more legislation for worker protections in general, and part of that is regulations of the gig economy and contractor work.

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

Well, no that's not actually what happened. Raven software told their employees that they would be getting raises, which they did. They went from $17 an hour to $18.50. They also didn't renew the contracts of a large number of their contractors. These are separate things that the article is lumping together.

That's the problem with being a contractor, you have no idea if your contract is actually going to be renewed. The promise seems to have been "next year QA testers are getting a raise" and they did. What also happened is a bunch of contracts that expire at the end of the year didn't get renewed.

The article is framing this as some sinister thing where the company is sacrificing a portion of its work force in order to be able to afford a raise for the rest of the people there, and that's actually not what happened. The raise is independent of the contractors that are being laid off. Contracts expiring happens at the end of every year and that's a totally normal thing in a ton of different industries, especially ones that have peaks and valleys in their work cycles.

What should be the focus here is that contractor work and the gig economy are fucked up and that companies including Activision Blizzard are exploiting contractors. That however is a major issue not just in the games industry, or even in tech, but it's a loophole that a lot of massive companies are exploiting for profit.

There was a recent referendum in California that wanted to re-categorize Uber and Lyft drivers as employees rather than contractors, which ended up failing because people were worried that the average price of an Uber ride would go up. We need more legislation for worker protections in general, and part of that is regulations of the gig economy and contractor work.

Yes and no.

You see the great trick is you fire 5 employees, you then spread 4 employees worth of wages giving others raises and pocket the 5th employee worth of wages as a company.

You just raised wages, and reduced costs meaning the board can get more dividends etc or better value selling their shares as the company value goes up as it looks like they're doing well.

And the only people who ultimately suffer will be the workers on the ground floor who because they've been given a wage management will feel fine to push them to do more work to justify that raise and have to do the work of their now absent colleagues. How do I know this? The company my Dad used to work for tried it on him. When he was there in the early days the department he was in was his boss, him and an assistant. When he was let go from the company as they were dissolving his department there was just him, oh and he'd also ended up as 2nd in charge of doing radiation safety talks, main safety advisers for the working at heights section and head of cooling tower safety and maintenance, and none of those extra responsibilities were seeing him paid anymore. So he was doing 5 peoples worth of jobs on top of his own and he wasn't even a contract worker he was a full time employee.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Yes and no.

You see the great trick is you fire 5 employees, you then spread 4 employees worth of wages giving others raises and pocket the 5th employee worth of wages as a company.

You just raised wages, and reduced costs meaning the board can get more dividends etc or better value selling their shares as the company value goes up as it looks like they're doing well.

Well no, because these aren't employees, these are contractors, so it doesn't really work the same way.

They aren't "pocketing the difference" because there was never an expectation that those contractors would continue to be employed after their contracts ran out. There's no difference to pocket.

They already have a budget for a specific number of contracted workers. If they get rid of their contractors they don't go "hey suddenly we found some more money." Those contracts were already planned not to be renewed, and were already budgeted for in that way.

Making games is a cyclical process which means that a QA department needs to grow when a new game is shipped, and shrinks when they aren't shipping a new game as there is less need for extensive testing.