A bird in the coal Mines

Raven software is a name you might not know, but that never the less is a studio that created some of the biggest games in the PC space post doom, and whose history is maybe one of the saddest stories in this industry. Raven made good games. For a time they would take the latest engine Extradimensional Hyperbrain Meme John Carmack had created and make a game better than the guys at ID software did. With the Wolfenstein 3D engine they made Shadowcaster, with the Doom Engine they made Heretic and Hexen, With the Quake Engine they made Mageslayer and heretic 2. With the doom 3 Engine they made Quake 4 and Wolfenstein(2009). Even when they weren’t working with ID-tech they made some genuine classics, like Star wars Jedi knight II, which in my opinion was the best version of light-saber combat ever.

Then Activision showed up.

Ravens last stand alone game was singularity. The project took a long time to develop, and was even briefly canceled at one time. The final game is far less ambitious than was probably originally intended, but overall it still came out OK. unfortunately it did not sell well. Following Singularities release, Raven would be put onto working on the DLC for the Call of Duty games by activision, eventually ending up as the lead dev on the games Battle royal mode warzone. But even then, these where good devs, who made good games that maybe didnt do so well but they had spark man. If you haven’t played it, track down a copy of Singularity, or of Quake 4, or of heretic. Because raven deserves to be talked about more.

The Phoenix?

Things got worse last year, when activision fired a number of members of the QA department who had previously been promised pay rises. Following the other recent activision blizzard controversies, Raven Software staff went on strike and, as of the 21st, gathered enough signatures to unionize. From then, Activision had 4 days to recognise the union. Now, to be completely fair to activision, they were just acquired by Microsoft so there is probably a lot on their minds regarding that, but as of now, activision has not voluntarily recognized the Game Workers Alliance, the union that Raven QA staff have formed.

With the recognition deadline passed, Raven employees will now move forward with plans to file for a union election through the National Labor Relations Board, as confirmed though a series of tweets.

We, the supermajority of workers at Raven QA, are proud to be confidently filing our petition with the NLRB for our union election. (1/5)

— Game Workers Alliance 💙#WeAreGWA (@WeAreGWA) January 26, 2022

Recently, Studio Head Brian Raffel announced an organizational change that would dissolve the QA team and transfer those workers to other departments arround the studio. Given the announcements timing and its focus on the QA department this has been perceived as an attack against the union, with the CWA commenting on this on twitter.

This announcement, which came three days after Raven QA workers publicly requested recognition of their union – @WeAreGWA (CWA) – is nothing more than a tactic to thwart Raven QA workers who are exercising their right to organize.

— CODE-CWA (@CODE_CWA) January 25, 2022

The current mood

As of Right now, Activision Blizzard Employees have the supermajority of votes in favor of unionizing, which is unsurprising given the last year of controversy surrounding the studio. They are in the Process of bringing their case to the NLRB. however this process can be protracted, which would give more leverage to leadership of activision blizzard.

Cornell professor of labor and employment law Risa Lieberwitz told The Washington Post that the structural changes shouldn’t interrupt the unionization process, but added that the timing “raises the question of whether [Activision Blizzard] are retaliating against the QA employees because of their union activities.”

#FreeRaven.

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The post Raven software Attempt to unionize #FreeRaven first appeared on Get2Gaming.

🎵It’s a horrible day in the gamerhood, a horrible game for a gamer, would you be mine, could you be mine🎵

To briefly recap for any readers new to the saga of Activision Blizzard (trigger warning for brief discussion of sexual assault): It was revealed many of the higher-ups there regularly harassed and assaulted women and people of color, California took Activision to court over the allegations and worker misconduct, other concerns have been raised (to put it mildy) and investigations are ongoing. Also heard a particularly attractive and galaxy-mega-brained gamer boi wrote on why firing CEO Bobby Kotick would go a long way to undoing much of the issues with Activision. I mean, if the folks at Sony can fire someone a day after finding out they’re an alleged nonce, then this should be a piece of pudding!

Back to the news: One Activision employee known as Christine (her real/full name is hidden due to privacy concerns) discussed her work history at Activision Blizzard, describing her experiences of sexual harassment at the company to her attorney Lisa Bloom. Spotted by Dexerto, Christine’s discussion occurred at the Activision main offices.

Among her claims, Christine stated her dream was to work for the company and confirm she still continues to. She also discussed not wanting to come forward with her experiences at Blizzard, while recognizing that open conversation about the issues at hand is an important part of trying to change things for the better.

In Christine’s four years of work at Activision Blizzard, she has experienced:

• Unwanted sexual advancements and suggestions of casual sex from peers and superiors.
• Groping.
• Verbal abuse regarding her body.
• Forced to come on the company’s “cube crawls”.
• On reporting the harassment to other supervisors, being met with claims they were “just joking” and “just trying to be friends”.
• After the initial reports to her superiors, Christine was demoted and denied full profit-sharing and shares in the company.

I represent a Blizzard employee who alleges she's a victim of sexual harassment. Our press release for our press conference tomorrow at the Irvine headquarters where we will demand accountability for the victims who have been subjected to harassment at the video game company: pic.twitter.com/0PisZ1Zomr

— Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) December 7, 2021

After a press conference on December 8th, Lisa Bloom made three demands on behalf of harassed Activision employees.

1: Activision’s current piddly little legal fund of $18 million is chump change compared to the hundreds the higher-ups make! Raise the fund “in excess of $100 million”.

2: Victim advocates should “participate in setting the rules”, you know, because the same harassers being in charge of an anti-harassment workplace committee works better as a dark joke than a real solution!

3: Bring on a better apology to your harassed employees, none of that namby-pamby “what a mistaker-to-maker” bullhockey.

Not long after, an Activision spokesperson gave a statement praising Christine’s bravery and apologizing for the workplace culture that lead to the commonness of these harassment experiences at Activision. 

Bloom also suggested getting “a neutral third party” to gauge the career damages to Activision employees.

Key sources include Dexerto and Lisa Bloom’s official Instagram coverage of the press conference, which I recommend viewing. Follow the socials for A Better ABK and make your voice heard.

Happy Goneday folks!

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The post Activision Blizzard Employee Demoted For Harassment Report first appeared on Get2Gaming.

Comrade Australia? FINALLY, some good industry news!

Was not expecting a progressive move in the gaming industry coming from the country notorious for banning and overly-censoring its fair share of 18+ games, but hey, you win some you lose some.

Game Workers Unite Australia, formerly an advisory and support group, has now announced it will be forming a proper union as of 2021. Game Workers Unite Australia has also partnered up with Professionals Australia (an umbrella union also covering scientists and non-gaming related workers).

Now, the GWUA is now officially part of the international GWU movement, which was endorsed by Bernie Sanders during his election campaign. Considering the rise of issues in the gaming industry becoming progressively more recognized and discussed, Australia’s new union will hopefully be a step in the right direction for giving workers the ability to fight back against workplace abuse. Again, not to put too fine a point, but there’s a reason why a certain “Bobbert Kotique” and other similarly rich CEOs generally aren’t big on the idea of employees having a say in holding company individuals accountable.

Click here and follow the official Game Workers Unite Australia Twitter account if you want to keep up to date with the folks working there.

A couple days ago, Game Workers Unite posted an announcement which covers its GWU Australia policies, how it will work as a sub-division of Professionals Australia and a ‘tiered membership package just for game workers’. There is currently no confirmed timeframe for launch, but plans for official recognition are being arranged.

The announcement also promises the following:

• ‘Access to support, services and solidarity that will help you at your workplace’.
• ‘Take legal action to defend our members against underpayments, discrimination and bullying’ and ‘organise collective agreements at workplaces’.
• ‘Lobby governments and industry on an equal playing field with studio owners and publishers’.
• Continuing to provide the free advisory benefits it has been running up until now, even after becoming officially recognized as a worker’s union.

Game Workers Unite Australia currently provides support to people working in various game industry roles, including game developers, journalists, streamers, game marketing and PR, community managers, and pro players.

Product Poems:

There is no Street Fighter Five in Ba Sing Se. Shirt? What shirt? God, no!

How much clout could a Cloudpunk punk if a Cloudpunk could punk cloud… Try saying that three-times fast!

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The post Australia Launches It’s First Game Industry Union! first appeared on Get2Gaming.