Almost 600 Activision quality assurance testers established a union in March 2024, with many based at the company’s Minnesota office. More than two years later, the group still has no first collective agreement—and testers working on Modern Warfare 4 ahead of its October 16 launch have now voted to authorise a strike.
The union, represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), says negotiations have dragged on while important questions about pay, workplace accommodations and employee protections remain unresolved. Its members argue that Activision has not delivered the constructive labour relationship Microsoft promised when a neutrality agreement helped pave the way for unionisation.
Union bargaining committee member and QA functional tester Emily Danko described the negotiations as a long and tiring process. She said the committee had approached talks responsibly, but accused the company of delaying progress on wages, accommodations and protections while workers considered every available option for securing a fair first contract.
Strike vote adds pressure before launch
Authorising a strike does not automatically mean employees will walk out. It gives the CWA-backed union the ability to call industrial action if negotiations fail, following a vote that clears the final procedural hurdle.
Testers say the disputed issues also include proposed safeguards around artificial intelligence and the way Activision uses contractors. The company, meanwhile, says it has negotiated in good faith with the Central QA team, made meaningful progress on several matters and wants an agreement that supports both employees and the wider business.
Activision has offered to resume meetings on October 21 and 22. The publisher says it respects employees’ protected rights, including the right to strike, and has plans intended to prevent disruption to players or upcoming releases.
For players, the timing could be significant. Modern Warfare 4 is scheduled for a global release during the following week, while major live-service games typically require substantial post-launch testing, fixes and updates. A stoppage could therefore affect the game’s early support cycle during the important holiday sales period.
QA functional tester Jenna Huffman said staff want fair pay, fair treatment and the contract they have been negotiating for more than two years. She also said employees continue to work without adequate accommodations while facing the prospect of broad layoffs without meaningful protection.
A smaller team facing a growing workload
The QA unit has already lost close to one-third of its workforce since unionising. It now numbers just over 400 people, compared with nearly 600 in early 2024. That reduction comes as Microsoft has indicated that further layoffs are part of its continuing Xbox reset.
Danko said the testing workload has not disappeared simply because staffing has fallen. Games still need testing and updates still need to ship, she argued, raising questions about how duties are redistributed and whether remaining employees are expected to deliver more with fewer colleagues. The union says sustainable workloads and product quality should not be sacrificed to compensate for staffing cuts.
AI is another central point of disagreement, particularly as quality assurance is frequently identified as an area where generative AI could automate tasks. Danko maintains that testing involves human judgement and context, including spotting problems automated systems may overlook.
Neutrality agreement no longer in place
Microsoft entered a temporary labour neutrality agreement with the CWA while pursuing its Activision Blizzard acquisition. The arrangement helped create conditions for union activity across Microsoft’s gaming operations. But the agreement expired last fall, and Activision testers say negotiations have become slower and more confrontational since then.
Huffman said the company had become more willing to challenge the previous status quo after the agreement ended, while the pace of bargaining declined. That assessment contrasts with earlier comments from Microsoft deputy general counsel Amy Pannoni, who said the company looked forward to maintaining a positive relationship between management and labour when the union was formed.
For the testers, that relationship now needs to be demonstrated through practical engagement at the negotiating table rather than public assurances. The dispute remains unresolved as Modern Warfare 4 approaches release, leaving the possibility of industrial action hanging over the game’s launch and post-launch support.
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