Evan J. LancasterEmployees at the Irvine-based Blizzard Activision Entertainment participated in a virtual walkout on Monday, April 4, to voice disapproval of the company’s latest stance on vaccination policies as employees plan to return to the office.
On Friday, April 1, leadership at Blizzard Activision announced that it would remove its vaccination requirement policy for employees as the company returns to the office.
However, employees argued that a lack of vaccination or testing requirements in an office setting would lead to an unsafe work environment, and demanded more work-from-home options.
ABK Leadership has heard our voice, and on Friday after our demands went public, they walked back on the immediate removal of the Vaccination policy, and are now allowing studios to create their own policies.
— ABetterABK 💙 ABK Workers Alliance (@ABetterABK) April 4, 2022
In its updated vaccination requirements for employees, Blizzard Activision will now allow individual studios to set vaccination requirements.
An insider source from Blizzard spoke to Irvine Weekly regarding Monday’s walkout, adding that there was a physical walkout planned, but due to employees getting sick it was moved to a virtual forum. The source also added that the company declined to offer paid time off to employees who wanted to participate.
“We had 115 people attend our virtual walkout. Most people opted not to be on campus due to a rise in COVID-19 transmission in our area this time. ABK also did not allow people to take paid time for this walkout, which is a break from their past behavior.”
Twitter user @_7larson, a QA at Activision MN, participated in the walkout using the hashtags #sickofthis and #gameworkersunited, and wrote that he has “more than demonstrated” his ability to work from home efficiently.
today i am joining my coworkers in walking out to protest the lifting of vaccine mandates and unfair, inequal WFH policies. i have more than demonstrated in the previous months that i can do my job just fine from home. #SickOfThis #GameWorkersUnite https://t.co/jyJOSfxhyL pic.twitter.com/9d8uMcJ8lX
— seven, knight of the haligtree 🌿 (@_7larson) April 4, 2022
In demands in the company’s RTO, ABetterABK has asked for equal work-from-home options for all employees, along with the reversal of optional vaccination requirements for studios.
In July, Blizzard Activision employees walked out to protest unfair workplace practices.
Earlier this year, software giant Microsoft acquired Blizzard Activision for $68 billion. The deal will be finalized in June 2023.
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