I applied at the end of July 2021. First stage was a timed translation test. It should be quite easy for those who have been working with video games localization before.
Two days later, after submitting the test, I got an automated email reply with the rejection. That was very confusing, since I had no doubts about my test, so I sent a follow-up to the HR manager.
Turned out it was a major bug in the company system that resulted in sending out over 40 000 rejection emails to people who ever applied to Activision. Not a great start at all!
Anyway, I passed the test and got a couple of interviews. The questions were quite typical and easy: localization challenges, meeting deadlines, team work, favorite games, etc.
On September 3rd, 2021, I got a job offer and a draft contract. Since this position involved the relocation to Dublin, Ireland, I had many questions. Especially, about the remuneration I was offered. I have to say right away that it was one of lowest salaries provided for foreign specialists (especially for the one with the industry-specific education and 15 years of experience).
After I submitted the list of my questions, the company went off the radar completely. I sent about three emails to two different people within one month. All of them were ignored.
The moment I decided to decline the offer, I was contacted by the HR manager not from the Activision, but Blizzard. Apparently, there were some issues with the previous HR manager. This didn’t go any further, she apologized for the situation. And we wished each other good luck.
Conclusion. It was a great disappointment to me and a huge waste of my time. One wouldn’t expect one of the oldest video game publishers to handle things so poorly: starting with the broken emailing system and ending with the continuous ignore after the offer. If you are an experienced language specialist, I would recommend you to think twice before applying to this position.