Most of the employees I worked with were great, my manager was also great.Executive leadership was absent and out of touch. They are paid WAY too much and don't understand how to run a creative business.

Pros

Great co-workers and the potential to be on a great project with great people

Cons

Executive leadership re-orgs often, focuses only on proven features which leads away from innovation

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Alright job

QA Tester (Current Employee) - Austin, TX - January 13, 2023

I love my team and the benefits are pretty sweet. Originally was a contractor but transitioned to FTE. There’s a lot of great perks but like any job it has it’s issues

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Activision insights

Based on 53 survey responses

Areas for improvement

Energizing work tasks
Overall satisfaction
Time and location flexibility

Productive positive workplace

QA Trainer (Current Employee) - Austin, TX - July 25, 2022

Recent changes within the company have led to employees being taken care of to a greater capacity. The work is rewarding, though there is little incentive to climb the "ladder". As a WFH employee, I would recommend this position to a friend.

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Test video games for not a lot of pay

Quality Assurance Tester (Former Employee) - Eden Prairie, MN - June 24, 2022

As a QA Tester, you get to test video games that Activision is developing. While it can be fun, it can also require a lot of overtime depending on what project you are on. Expect upwards of 10-12 hour shifts 6 days a week. Also, you are a contract employee. You will be let go after about a year or so to avoid having to give benefits. Overall, it is a good place to work if you enjoy video games and don't mind crunch.

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Crunch Time

Quality Assurance Analyst (Former Employee) - Eden Prairie, MN - June 17, 2022

6 days a week at 12 hours a day. you commit to the contract and no life.your testing triple a titles.you get paid to break video gamesthey require a certain amount of bugs written daily.if you fail to meet that or things happen you will not be rehired

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Worst managment, need to be with the in group to succeed. lack of innovation

Senior Director, Consumer Analytics (Former Employee) - Santa Monica, CA - January 26, 2022

worst job experience. Who you know is more important. lack of managment vision and leadership. poor HR group. there was no valuable learnings from this company.

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It's a stepping stone

Quality Assurance (Former Employee) - Eden Prairie, MN - January 23, 2022

Aside from the numerous issues brought to light in recent months, there is little room for progression and few employees who work full-time. The company has an extremely high turnover rate.

Pros

Great Coworkers

Cons

The Company Ladder, Underpaid

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productive and fun work place

game tester (Current Employee) - Milwaukee, WI - November 16, 2021

working at the place is really fun and my teammates are great and supportive. I get paid a fair amount and the free lunches and dinner are great I just don't like how easily we can be replaced

Pros

free lunches

Cons

can be replaced easily

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It's okay.

QA Tester (Current Employee) - Eden Prairie, MN - August 24, 2021

Long story short, it's fine if you're just looking to get some money, but I wouldn't expect to make a career out of this unless you're trying to get hired internally. The people there are mostly what make the job worthwhile (as long as we're talking middle management and below), provided you're thrown into the right group. Don't expect to play games the way you normally would as there are a lot of repetitive tasks.

Pros

Working from home (don't expect it to be permanent), free/discounted games, fun and friendly coworkers.

Cons

Temp contract job, possible overtime (could be a pro in some cases), lots of flip-flopping on tasks, very little say in project to work on.

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Fun place to work, but zero work life balance.

Software QA Tester (Former Employee) - Eden Prairie, MN - August 10, 2021

The people I worked with were from very diverse backgrounds and it was fun geting to know them as well as work with them and the environment and atmosphere was a lot of fun at times. However you should prepare yourself for zero work life balance as you will be doing a ton of overtime, including many times where you will be working 12-14 hours a day for 9-14 days in a row and it can sometimes ramp up to up to 18 hours a day, all without any warning.

Pros

Fun atmosphere and culture, relaxed dress code, meet a lot of new and interesting people, free schwag.

Cons

Ridiculously long hours, zero work life balance, upper management does not care that people have to drive exhausted after multiple 14-18 hour shifts.

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Computer Graphics Internship

Portland, ME

30+ days ago

It’s okay

Game Tester (Former Employee) - Santa Monica, CA - July 24, 2021

long work hours. guess if you like video games it’s cool, just feel like game testers should get better pay. they’re literally the reason why your games sell out.

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Fun job, but beware of work-life balance

QA Functional Tester (Current Employee) - Eden Prairie, MN - July 11, 2021

This is definitely the most enjoyable job I've had, the work itself is quite fun if you enjoy video games and have an eye for detail. Still, the overtime requirements are something to strongly consider. The schedule varies a lot, but be prepared to work 50 hours regularly, as well as up to 75+ hours during crunch time (the last title averaged around 65 hours/week in the month leading up to its release).Overall though, I'd recommend it if the overtime is something you can handle. Management is good and supportive, fun work environment.

Pros

Free lunches for in-office people, good management, flexible sick time

Cons

Work-life balance, no vacation time

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Many hours, nice people, not treated as a full employee

QA Tester (Current Employee) - Austin, TX - June 26, 2021

You're not an Activision employee as a QA tester and you get none of their benefits. You work for either Tapfin or Volt under Activision. No paid time off, though you can request time off. People are great, compensation is not so great

Pros

People

Cons

Compensation, hours, Nda

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Great place to work

QA Tester (Former Employee) - Minneapolis, MN - June 9, 2021

Loved my time as a QA tester! There is a great inclusive work culture! They seemed to really care about us as employees and they were very understanding with everything happening with the pandemic. The hours are long but that's great for someone who loves to work. i only wish I had a longer contract. I definitely hope to work more with them in the future.

Pros

Fun! Company takes care of it employees, expense reimbursement

Cons

Equipment/technical issues on occasion

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A Challenging yet rewarding place to work and quite fun too

Assurance QA Tester (Former Employee) - Eden Prairie, MN - May 25, 2021

Everyday there would be a meeting discussing where things are at and what we can be expected to be working on that day.What i learned is that it wasnt my dream job after all however it was still alot of fun and would deffinately do it all again if i could that and i had also learned many other things there too such as writing detailed reports but not too detailed and how to edit screenshots and videos but also how to use a searching tool called Jira.The Management there was pretty good most of them were friendly and if i had concerns they would hear them out all in all they were very helpful and kind and understanding plus patient too.The atmosphere working there was not at all what i expected but was much more then i could have hoped for too.The hardest part of the job were the hours especially during crunch time but also learning how to use Jira as well too, there were some instances that i fell behind but was only due to the fact that as a gamer i wasnt great nor ever was great when it came to parcore games or shooter games but still tried my best to accomplish as much as i could.The most Enjoyable parts of the job were that i was getting to help create something very special for the entire world to see as a pasionate gamer myself i wanted whatever they had us working on to be nothing less then perfect in every sense of the word, also it was awesome that they had let us eat and drink at our desks which helped me out hugely due to the fact that i have a hyper active thyroid which makes it so that im constently hungry so i need to eat more often then others, also another -

Pros

Get free Activision clothing, Discounts on games, Getting to play the game before the public does, getting to do what a gamer loves to do in general, being able to Eat and drink at your desk

Cons

Many long hours especially during crunch, not being able to tell anyone what youve been working on due to it being confidential, Learning how to search through Jira

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You are expendable.

Quality Assurance Tester (Current Employee) - Eden Prairie, MN - April 7, 2021

You are constantly reminded that you are a contract employee with an expiration date. Meanwhile you recieve a W2. During training and orientation you sit in on all of these calls where Activision tells you about these amazing benefits. When the call ends you are told "Those benefits are for permanent employees in California". As a QA tester you are constantly told how important you are to the development of games like Call of Duty. When you first sign on to the position you are informed and forced to sign a contract that states you are not eligible for a bonus regardless of the games sales or performance. All of this leads to the most important thing people need to be aware of. There is zero work-life balance. We have been working six days a week, eight to twelve hours a day since August of 2020. While it easy to ask for time off, you are not eligible for PTO because you are not considered a permanent employee. If you want to be treated with some kind of dignity and respect, Activision is NOT the place to work.

Pros

Two free games a year, coworkers are really fun.

Cons

Does not pay a livable wage, zero work-life balance, little to no upward movement in the company.

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Great co workers, truly terrible management.

Quality Assurance (Current Employee) - Eden Prairie, MN - March 1, 2021

Expect frequent and consistent overtime. At the very least you’ll be working 6 days a week, this gets even worse during crunch. The schedule you are given is a facade expect frequent changes at a moments notice. The company will make excuses and say they are looking into structural changes but these are merely empty promises. The one positive thing about the company is the bond you create with your fellow workers. The people are truly amazing without them the job is worth nothing. Sadly you should expect frequent turnover. Know what you are getting into before working here while it’s fun to play new games this only lasts for so long. Don’t expect much of a social life you are married to the company, oh and as far as advancing in the company goes it’s very unlikely regardless of how hard you work. You’ll likely be strung along and think you are given a chance to showcase your skills but they are simply using you.

Pros

Work from home, amazing co workers, consistent hours.

Cons

Brutal schedule, low pay, limited advancement opportunities.

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Long hours but smart and welcoming coworkers

Production Assistant (Current Employee) - Santa Monica, CA - September 27, 2020

The hours are long and people start getting fatigued around crunch time. Currently everyone is wfh and it operates pretty well.Overall there is a lot of very smart and passionate people here who are eager to share their knowledge. The contract/temporary worker situation is annoying and takes away from the experience of working at a cool company like activision.

Pros

Generous meal allowance while wfh and fun game perks

Cons

Hard to find work life balance at times

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Involved with an exciting industry and the production of AAA video game titles.

Platform Lead (Former Employee) - Santa Monica, CA - June 30, 2020

An exciting industry to work in with many sharp, creative and friendly people but one that exploits the graphic artists, programmers and quality assurance personnel with low pay, long hours and low job security because there is a constant supply of entry-level replacements seeking hire.

Pros

Involved at the forefront of a dynamic industry, free video games

Cons

Relatively low pay, no job security, long hours/weeks during "crunch"

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Productively fun work area

Game Tester (Former Employee) - Steubenville, OH - June 18, 2020

Is the best company to work for because they had the best games like call of duty I forgot what they have the best games I really loved working for this company so I would really love I mean love working here

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Great Environment

Junior Software Developer (Former Employee) - New York, NY - May 30, 2020

Best Job Ever! I got to work at any time during office hours. My supervisor did not boss me around. They just wanted the work to be done and in return you had freedom.

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