JAKARTA - Activision Blizzard is converting all of its temporary and contract QA workers in the US to full-time employees starting July 1.
This means that 1.100 workers will receive a pay increase, with the new minimum hourly rate starting on April 17 of USD 20.
In addition to salary increases, as permanent employees, they will also receive benefits and can participate in bonus programs.
According to The Verge, Activision Blizzard's vice president of corporate communications, Jessica Taylor, said that the company will be bringing more content to players across its franchise.
"As a result, we're refining the way our teams work together to develop our games and provide the best experience for our players. We have ambitious plans for the future and members of our Quality Assurance (QA) team are an important part of our development efforts," said Taylor in a statement.
In addition, Blizzard also said, bringing these workers on staff will increase its development resources and increase the number of full-time employees by 25 percent. He recently converted nearly 500 other temporary and contract roles across his studio into full-time positions.
The move follows a union push spearheaded by members of the QA team at Raven Software. Workers from across Activision Blizzard went on strike in December after several Raven QA contractors were laid off.
The following month, QA workers at the studio announced their intention to unionize, which would make them the first union members at an AAA game company in North America.
Activision refused to voluntarily recognize the Game Worker's union and transferred several people to other departments. Executives also try to convince workers not to form unions by questioning the benefits of being organized.
However, Raven QA workers are moving ahead with their plans and have submitted union elections through the National Labor Relations Board.
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"Whether Raven workers choose to unionize has nothing to do with raises elsewhere for Activision QA workers," a spokesperson for Activision Blizzard told Bloomberg.
Activision Blizzard also confirmed to The Verge via email from Raven Software President, Raffel. He said that Raven was ineligible for the pay initiative "because of a legal obligation under the National Labor Relations Act."
In addition, Activision Blizzard isn't the only major company in the gaming sector to hire temporary workers and contract QA into a permanent role. In February, Epic Games said it would offer mostly US-based QA workers full-time positions.
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