The Activision Blizzard King (ABK) Workers Alliance, which has been organising strikes and demands from company’s employees, says its goals have not changed with the news of the Microsoft acquisition.
This comes after yesterday’s shock announcement that Microsoft will acquire Activision Blizzard for around £50billion ($68.7billion USD), whilst the latter is still embroiled in lawsuits concerning workplace misconduct and sexual harassment allegations.
Whilst Raven Software QA is still actively striking – which began in December of last year – the ABK Workers Alliance has a GoFundMe set up for donations that will pay the bills of those on strike.
“The news of Activision’s acquisition by Microsoft is surprising, but does not change the goals of the ABK Workers Alliance,” said the organisation in a statement to Twitter.
“We remain committed to fighting for workplace improvements and the rights of our employees regardless of who is financially in control of the company. The strike for Raven QA is in its fifth week, and our striking staff has still not received response from leadership regarding our request to negotiate.
“Three out of four of our original collective demands to improve the conditions of women in our workforce have not been met,” the statement adds.
ABK’s commitment to workplace improvements will not change, “regardless of who is financially in control of the company.”
Microsoft’s acquisition is not expected to go through until some time in 2023, as head of Xbox Phil Spencer has said that the company will make sure its new staff “feel safe, supported and engaged in every aspect of their work going forward.”
In other news, Microsoft has said it “does not intend” to pull communities away from Sony amid news of the acquisition, as players are wondering what it means for major franchises.
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