Call of Duty employees is going on in protest against layoffs

Employees at Raven Software, known for their work on the Call of Duty franchise, are running into layoffs on Friday in response to a dozen QA employees, as reported by outlets including Bloomberg, Kotaku and Polygon. Activists are demanding in a statement that "every member of the QA team, including those terminated on Friday, be offered full-time positions."

Individuals informed that their contracts will expire on January 28 were in "good standing", the statement said, and many who were not laid off are "still unsure of the status of their employment." " The statement also underscores the importance of the QA team to Call of Duty: Warzone, Activision's hugely popular battle royale shooter, which activists say makes an astonishing $5.2 million per day. "Consistently terminating the contracts of high-performing testers during work and profit time puts the health of the studio at risk," the statement said.

An Activision Blizzard spokesperson confirmed that it has informed 20 "temporary workers" at its studio that their contracts will not be extended. He refused to have the numbers broken down by the studio.

Activision has been under intense scrutiny following a California lawsuit against the Blizzard company, alleging it promoted a culture of "persistent sexual harassment." The investigation only grew after a blazing Wall Street Journal report that CEO Bobby Kotick had known years of sexual misconduct at the company and had a history of abusive behavior. Employees walked out again in July after protests against the lawsuit and the Wall Street Journal reported in November.

Update December 6th, 12:34PM ET: Activision Blizzard declined to say how many workers will not have contracts extended by the studio.