Warzone QA testers reportedly fired after promises of better pay
ActivisionCall of Duty: Warzone’s quality assurance staff are apparently dealing with unideal changes. According to a tweet from a Raven Software employee, a number of QA testers are being fired after months of promised raises.
Raven Software are the principal developers tasked with Call of Duty’s biggest title, Warzone. And the team, which took over management of the BR from Infinity Ward, is reportedly undergoing some adjustments.
According to Raven’s Associate Community Manager, the QA team were under the impression that Activision Blizzard had raises planned for them.
Instead, on December 3, it seems that “valuable members of the team were called into meetings and told they were being let go.”
Warzone QA testers fired after promises of better pay?
I am gutted right now. My friends in QA at Raven were promised, for months, that Activision was working towards a pay restructure to increase their wages.
Today, one by one, valuable members of the team were called into meetings and told they were being let go.
— Austin O'Brien (@eyyohbee) December 3, 2021
As the Community Manager explained, “friends in QA at Raven were promised, for months, that Activision was working towards a pay restructure to increase their wages.” This would theoretically be good news, especially for a company that is dealing with backlash for its treatment of employees recently.
But they continued on, revealing that a number of QA staff were now being let go. Additionally, this is after they were allegedly “asked to relocate to Madison, Wisconsin.”
I would hope not as well but I have a platform and these people are amazing humans who deserve to have their situation amplified.
— Austin O'Brien (@eyyohbee) December 3, 2021
A number of people have responded to these tweets with anger and disappointment, as well as with praise for the community manager speaking up.
When one said they hope he doesn’t get fired over this, he responded that he “hopes not as well,” but needed to ‘amplify’ the problems facing his (former) peers.
In further tweets, he explained that these layoffs will put more work on the shoulders of remaining staff while ‘crushing morale.’ At the moment, it remains unclear why these layoffs happened or how the QA work will be replaced — especially with Warzone about to launch its first new map since release. (Ok fine, second new map if you — like a kind sir who emailed us about this — count Rebirth Island.)
