Black Ops 6 QA developers strike over Activision Blizzard's return to office mandate

According to the Communications Workers of America (CWA), quality assurance workers at Activision Blizzard recently went on strike to protest the company's return-to-work mandate (RTO).

ON Friday 25 Octoberthe QA team (based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota) mobilized to secure work-from-home (WFH) accommodations. The team has worked on several Call of Duty games (including the newly released title Call of Duty: Black Ops 6) and claim that Activision and Microsoft did not allow accommodations for employees with ADA-certified medical conditions.

He also noted that more than 300 Activision employees signed a petition earlier this month calling for the return of work-from-home options, and workers in Texas and California joined the Eden Prairie team in striking.

“Despite multiple requests from the union representing video game workers, Activision and Microsoft have been unable to explain why they specifically insist that workers must work in the office,” the CWA wrote, “even those with serious medical conditions and the doctor's recommendations to work from home.”

The pro-worker group A better ABK issued its own statement on October 25, saying that RTO “[was] decided on our behalf and without our contribution. We also learned that the company is unwilling to provide people with remote work accommodations, even when it is the only option that meets an employee's needs, due to this alienating policy.”

In a statement to EurogamerActivision Blizzard said it understood that “returning to the office has been an adjustment for some. We engage in an interactive process with employees requesting accommodations. This is an ongoing conversation at the bargaining table and we will continue to discuss our respective interests in that forum.”

The controversial story of developers returning to the office

Activision Blizzard has ended its years-long hybrid work structure beginning of 2024 when it adopted a comprehensive RTO policy that allowed zero business days. Before that, he concluded his remote working policy and called on staff to return to the office three days a week, and both moves were met with criticism from employees and the wider industry.

Other large studios, such as Ubisoft AND Rockstarsthey also invited staff to return to the office ahead of their respective big upcoming releases. In the case of Ubisoft, this led the French game developers union STJV to encourage its employees Offices based in France to protest this decision, and the workers at Milan office strike at their side.

Many developers find remote work is better suited to them, and the return to in-person work has led to other complications. For example, Techland's RTO policy requires foreign staff to come to Polish offices eight days out of two months and local workers three days out of seven. This went into effect in July, and it was assumed at the time that those two buildings would not be able to hold the nearly 500 people who make up the Dying Light studio.

The CWA further stated that QA officials believe Activision Blizzard is using the RTO policy and rejecting accommodations like a “fired wolf in sheep's clothing returning to the office.” Ubisoft Montreal workers they assumed similar reasoning when they were forcibly given an RTO policy late last year.

In the same statement, the CWA noted that Activision's return to office was made “despite more than two years of successfully working entirely from home or in a hybrid mode with the office.” Last year, Games for insomniacs AND Rebirth both championed remote and hybrid working and how this helped their respective 2023 releases, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 AND Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

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