Some time ago, testers were laid off at the developer of Call of Duty: Warzone, Raven Software. This caused an uproar among the employees. They have now formed a union and are demanding better working conditions. This should also improve the quality of the games.
This is the situation:
- At the end of 2021, Activision, the parent company of developer Raven Software, laid off several testers, even though they did “nothing wrong”.
- The remaining employees in quality assurance subsequently went on strike but had not received a response for a long time.
- Now, the employees have formed a union to demand better working conditions. According to Bloomberg, this is the “first union at major gaming companies in the USA.” Previously, there had only been a small union of indie developers (via Washington Post).
“Shorter Development Time Sacrifices the Quality of the Project”
What kind of union is this? The Game Workers Alliance (GWA) is a coalition of 34 employees from Activision and Raven Software. They are part of the Communication Workers of America (CWA), the largest media industry union according to Bloomberg.
The employees themselves are 34 members of quality assurance. The department is responsible for ensuring that games run smoothly and without errors – something that seems particularly necessary for Call of Duty. Warzone and Vanguard were a “wreck full of bugs” at the end of 2021 and Season 2 of Vanguard was even postponed so that the team could work on bugs.
MeinMMO author Maik Schneider has looked into the whole situation more closely. His assessment as a CoD expert is: Call of Duty is in the worst state it has been in years. With the demands of the GWA, this could change at least in the long term.
What does the union demand? The employees are asking Activision to first recognize the union. However, this could prove difficult as unions are not well-regarded in the USA, and just recently, tech giant Microsoft announced its intention to buy Activision Blizzard. A union may stand in the way of that.
The union aims to ensure that management and workers work together to create a “healthy and successful work environment.” In a series of tweets, the GWA speaks of several goals they want to achieve. These include:
- Sustainability: Developers should not have to “crunch” to finish.
- Transparency: Management decisions should be clearly communicated.
- Equality: Quality assurance should receive the respect and balance it deserves.
- Diversity: Minorities should have a voice.
Especially regarding diversity, there was a huge scandal at Blizzard in 2021. It involved sexism and inappropriate behavior, a so-called “Frat Boy Culture”. The GWA wants to ensure equality.
However, the point regarding sustainability sounds particularly important here. The GWA emphasizes that shortened development time “sacrifices the quality of the project.” This means: the less time remains to complete a project, the more stressed the employees are. This also affects the game.
“Crunch” as a Problem in Development
What exactly is the problem? Often, games are required to meet certain deadlines to be released at specific times. Popular are the “Holidays”, meaning the holidays around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Publishers expect particularly good revenue during these times.
However, this leads to developers being forced into overtime, known as “crunch.” A particularly public case was Cyberpunk 2077 (2020). There, the developers worked overtime and many gamers were indifferent.
However, such conditions usually impact the games themselves. Cyberpunk 2077 was so broken upon release that the PS Store removed it from its offerings. More recent examples like Battlefield 2042 also show how short deadlines lead to unfinished games and poor quality.
Can it be done differently? Many indie studios ensure that a game is good rather than quick to release. They are not bound by publisher guidelines and can take as much time as they want. That’s why indie games do some things better than AAA titles.
But even in large studios, it is worthwhile to invest more time. The latest example here is Rainbow Six: Extraction. It is well-received by players because it simply feels “finished”. Unlike Call of Duty or Battlefield, it has hardly any bugs. Even if the game does not bring anything particularly “new”, it delights fans simply because it plays well.
However, this also shows the downside. Due to the postponement from 2021 and the rather small release, Extraction is getting little attention. Gamers may need to get used to the fact that good games take longer. Or what do you think?
