Nearly three years after beginning the bargaining process with Microsoft, quality assurance workers at two Blizzard locations have signed the union contract. The agreement covers 60 workers of Blizzard Albany and Blizzard Austin.
The agreement includes guaranteed salary increases during the three years of the contract, assurances that workers will be given equal credits and recognition of games sent, non-discriminatory disability accommodations, restrictions on crunch (ie mandatory overtime) and “protection of immigrant workers from unfair discipline and loss of seniority while streamlining legal verification.” Stronger rules around the use of AI are also included in the contract.
“At a time when layoffs are hitting our industry, today is another big step in building a better future for video game workers at every level,” Blizzard Albany quality analyst Brock Davis said in a statement. “For quality assurance testers, this contract gives us a living wage, plus job security benefits and guardrails around artificial intelligence in the workplace.”
Like other unions in Microsoft’s game divisions, Blizzard QA workers organized the Communications Workers of America. This marks the third union agreement with Microsoft since then ZeniMax and Raven software Labor approved the contracts last summer. Several other Blizzard divisions have merged over the past year, including cinematics team, Overwatch developers and a unit working on Diablo.







