Workers at Blizzard Albany's (formerly Vicarious Visions) quality assurance department voted to unionize on Friday.Game Workers Alliance Albany is the second developer under the Activision Blizzard umbrella to successfully form a union It is the second QA unit to do so, following this summer's successful Raven QA (opens in new tab).

The victory comes just two days after the National Labor Relations Board ruled on Activision Blizzard's motion (opens in new tab) to postpone the vote. Activision Blizzard argued, as it had until the Raven QA vote, that the unionization issue should apply to the entire studio, not a single division.

GWA Albany argued, and the NLRB agreed, that there were sufficient differences in pay, benefits, and job descriptions to provide sufficient grounds for QA staff to unionize independently of other departments.

GWA Albany then moved on to contract negotiations, but Raven QA remained at this stage; in early November, Kotaku (open in new tab) reported on the status of negotiations, specifically that Raven QA workers would not receive the pay increase given to the company's other QA departments in April It reported on Activision Blizzard's claims.

Activision Blizzard and Starbucks (opens in new tab) are withholding general raises from union workplaces because of labor laws drafted to prevent employers from influencing union moves with pay changes. The Washington Post (opens in new tab) reported in October that the NLRB found this to be retaliation for union activity in the Raven Software case.

Destiny players may recognize the name Vicarious Visions. Under its former name, Blizzard Albany was a key support studio for Bungie and spearheaded the PC port of Destiny 2, among other contributions; Blizzard Albany is currently working on the upcoming Diablo 4.