Call of Duty Warzone testers collectively strike to protest Activision

Warzone testers plan to strike until Activision reverses its decision to fire multiple QA testers.

Last week, Activision fired around a dozen quality assurance testers, roughly 1/3 of its QA team, at one of its studios Raven Software. These workers were under contract--meaning they are not employees, do not get benefits or healthcare, and can be cut at any time--and their emotional stories of termination were told on Twitter by onlookers and the workers themselves, who had moved to Madison, Wisconsin and are now out of a job.

Now the remaining QA testers are planning a collective strike in protest, and demand that Activision hires their co-workers back on the team. Activision tells Bloomberg that they have fired 20 contract employees but intend to make 500 of their contract team into full-time employees.

• Read more: Activision developer wins years-long battle against Microsoft after layoffs

Quality assurance (QA) testers at Raven Software are some of the most important people under Activision's employ.

These developers methodically test new updates for Call of Duty Warzone to help squash bugs, glitches, and other issues. Warzone is the most important thing Activision-Blizzard has ever done because it connects all mainline Call of Duty games together. It's responsible for building and sustaining Activision's current record-breaking $8 billion earnings.

Despite this, some at Activision-Blizzard management say QA isn't a job that's expected to deliver livable wages.

Similar to the previous walkouts that protested the sexual abuse allegations currently rocking the company's moorings, this protest will get Activision-Blizzard's attention because it goes after the company's biggest cash crop.