Activision studio workers vote to unionize

Video game workers at a division of Activision Blizzard are on the wait to find out if they have formed the first labor union against a large US video game company. The results will be revealed after the ballots are counted on Monday and this would affect a small group of Wisconsin-based quality assurance testers at Activision Blizzard's Raven Software, which develops the popular Call of Duty game franchise.

This unionization campaign by employees at Wisconsin is part of a broader internal shakeup at Activision Blizzard, a California-based gaming giant with around 10,000 employees. The game publisher- which Microsoft has been trying to buy for $69 million- has been under fire from the government and some shareholders. The company has also recently settled a federal civil rights lawsuit over allegations that its management ignored sexual harassment and workplace discrimination against female employees. 

Meanwhile, Microsoft has said that it would not interfere with any of the company's unionization efforts. Activision Blizzard said in a statement on Monday that it respected the right of workers to vote for a union but it criticized the way those workers were being classified. The company said, "We believe that an important decision that will impact the entire Raven Software studio of roughly 350 employees should not be made by fewer than 10% of Raven employees."

Source: CBS News