(Bloomberg) -- Video game testers at Activision Blizzard Inc. voted on Monday to form a union with the Communications Workers of America in a first for a US-listed game company.

Nineteen quality assurance testers at subsidiary Raven Software, who assess the performance of games in the lucrative Call of Duty series, voted for legal recognition of the union they’d first organized in January. Three voted against. 

The outcome ends a protracted battle that began when management refused voluntarily to recognize the group. Workers came together in response to layoffs at the company last December, and their push for official status at the company comes as it’s also battling explosive allegations of sexism. 

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.