The COVID-19 pandemic had a massive impact on the world, leading many companies to shutter their in-person offices during the worst of it. Once things started to return to semi-normal, some employees were tasked with returning to their brick and mortar locations, albeit with COVID-19 vaccines required to do so.
Needless to say, the COVID-19 vaccine requirement caused some conflict, as some weren’t happy that their employment had to be tied to a shot. Now, with the pandemic becoming better-controlled,Activision Blizzardhas announced that it’s doing away with its vaccine requirements.
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Previously, Activision Blizzard revealed that it would begin moving game development back to a physical location where the employees could cooperate and work together face-to-face. Now that move is continuing, with Activision Blizzard releasing a letter to its employees informing them of the removal of thevaccine requirement. Activision Blizzard says it’s doing this in keeping with other companies' decisions to try and get back to normal, and it’s encouraging its employees to come back to the office regardless of their vaccination status.
According to the letter, employees who don’t want to return due to concerns about the risks will need to speak with their manager, but it’s unclear what the outcome of that situation will be. Activision is highlighting the “benefits of in-person collaboration” of its devs working together, rather than remotely, but remote work has been possible. It may be that employees who can’t or won’t return to the office will be allowed to continue working from home.
Activision also points out that it will ‘act quickly’ ifCOVID-19 cases begin to spikeagain. Of course, given the high transmission rate that most strains of the virus have had, this may not be much of a comfort to employees heading back to work.
Everyone has their own opinion on whether working in an office beside co-workers or from home is best for them, so chances are some employees are pleased while others aren’t at changes like these. However,Activision Blizzard has been mired in repeated allegationsand lawsuits regarding sexual harassment and poor treatment at work. Some workers may be dreading returning to a workplace where they don’t feel comfortable.
Even if COVID-19 fades away entirely, its impact on the game industry will likely be felt for some time yet. Multiple games have seen development delays in part due to the virus, and evenE3 2022 has been canceledfollowing initial plans to host the show in an all-digital format. Two years in, things are still trying to shift back to normal, and only time will tell if those efforts are successful or not.
