More than 60 employees of the software stage Raven announced their opposition to the layoffs

On Friday, a dozen QA employees at Madison, Wisconsin-based Raven Software — the studio that developed the Call of Duty franchise for Activision — were told they would be laid off at the end of January. According to the Washington Post, contract workers were notified of their layoffs during a face-to-face meeting that began on December 3 and will continue through December 8, meaning that some workers have spent the rest of their lives. weeks to wonder if they’ll have a job through the upcoming new year.

Many of the laid-off employees moved to Madison as part of the job and were told they would get a raise in the near future. Although the official layoff date for laid-off workers is January 28, they have been given the option to quit earlier, and the Post reports that many are choosing to do so. “In my opinion, it was an embarrassment to work for Activision,” said QA tester Evan Avillanoza, one of the employees being laid off.

In response, employee advocacy group A Better ABK held a walkout today at Raven Software in support of the 12 individuals who had been terminated, calling for them to be reinstated, and for all members of the team. Raven’s QA team is offered full-time positions. In a statement, A Better ABK said that the workers were “in ‘good standing’, which means they were not underperforming or violating any fire-fighting behavior” and noted that Call of Duty: Warzone brings in $5.2 million per day, in line with Blizzard’s financial statements.

More than 60 workers at Raven Software participated in today’s rollout, according to the Washington Post.

Activision Blizzard responded to the protest by saying, “We support their right to safely and respectfully express their opinions and concerns without fear of retaliation.” The company also said in a statement that it will be ending the employment of 20 contract workers in its studios while transitioning an additional 500 people to full-time positions in the coming months – this will be good news if true, but at this point the company deserves exactly zero benefit of the doubt.