Raven QA workers vote in favor of forming the first gaming union

Raven Software employees voted on forming the first major gaming union. The studio’s 22 QA employees sent in ballots to the National Labor Relations Board in April. The NLRB tallied up the votes today, with a final count of 19 in favor and 3 against. The 22 workers now comprise a union under the Game Workers Alliance label, which is recognized by the NLRB. They can now begin negotiations with parent company Activision Blizzard.

The QA team’s move came after a long struggle with the rest of Raven Software and Activision. Late last year, Raven laid off several contract workers on the team rather than converting them to full-time, despite alleged assurances and some of the workers relocating for the positions. The team was, at the time, working on Call of Duty: Warzone, one of Activision’s most lucrative titles. In protest, over 60 Raven employees went on strike, and the workers formed the union in January.