The TGA awards ceremony will be held this Thursday (December 9). At the opening of the ceremony, a group of Activision Blizzard employees called ABetterABK called on TGA founder Geoff Keighley to use the TGA awards ceremony as a platform to promote positive changes in the entire gaming industry.
The organization said in a statement: We support TGA in taking action to stand up for game developers abused by its company. Geoff Keighley, we call on you to use your platform to solve the problems of the entire industry. The problems we face It is also the same problem faced by ABetterUbisoft (ABetterUbisoft and Ubisoft have had a long-term dispute over workplace conditions.) The organization pointed out that employees in the entire gaming industry face the same problems.
ABetterABK went on to describe some of the most pressing issues facing workers in the industry. This includes contract employment, the status of quality assurance teams, and workplace discrimination. They stated that contractors all over the world are facing unfair working conditions. Quality assurance is not regarded as equal class citizens in development. Discrimination against minority employees is being covered up.
An Activision Blizzard contract worker named Jessica Gonzales said that he had been harassed and discriminated against. She stated that she was told by the company that she would be formally hired in a year, but was fired by the company 6 months later. Gonzales also said that while all employees of the company enjoy beach time, she and other partners are working on site.
Employee Aubrey Ryan complained that he had the least wages in one of the most expensive cities in Texas. Activision Blizzard’s contract workers continued to describe their employment situation. They stated that there is no PTO and no sick leave. There is no job security. The insurance of the temporary agency for employees paid weekly is half of the salary. All this is to promise that one day, we may become regular employees.
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ABetterABK concluded its statement with a call for industry change. Today, we have a unique opportunity to use our voice to promote industry change, but we cannot do it alone. They continued. We call on workers in the entire gaming industry to make a voice for change. We call on Geoff Keighley to make this happen during the TGA awards ceremony.
Geoff Keighley has stated that Activision Blizzard will be excluded from the game awards and said that the TGA ceremony is a celebration of this industry, this industry is the world’s largest form of entertainment. No company or any community allows abuse, harassment or predatory behavior.
ABetterABK hopes that Geoff Keighley can consider the entire industry, not just Activision Blizzard. They said that only by working together can we truly create an industry standard for all companies so that employees can not only perform well in the work they do, but also feel safe at work.