Activision Blizzard workers vote to unionize, a first for a large U.S. video game company

Video game workers at a division of game publisher Activision Blizzard are waiting to find out if they've formed the first labor union at a large U.S. video game company.A count of ballots on Monday will reveal the results of an election affecting a small group of Wisconsin-based quality assurance testers at Activision Blizzard's Raven Software, which develops the popular Call of Duty game franchise.The unionization campaign by employees at Raven's office in Middleton, Wisconsin, has been part of a broader internal shakeup at Activision Blizzard, a Santa Monica, California-based gaming giant with roughly 10,000 employees worldwide.The game publisher — which Microsoft is in the process of buying for nearly $69 billion — has come under fire from the government and some shareholders, and it recently settled a federal civil rights lawsuit over allegations that management ignored sexual harassment and workplace discrimination against female employees.Microsoft has said it wouldn't interfere in any unionization efforts.The Milwaukee office of the National Labor Relations Board is scheduled to count the mailed-in ballots on Monday afternoon.