After years of working remotely, Quality Assurance staff who worked onthe recently-releasedCall of Duty: Black Ops 6are being told toreturn to office life. This policy, first announced in January of this year, has led toescalating tensionsbetween the workforce andActivision’s management.
This Friday, those tensions will reach a boiling point. Ina recent statement,workers at the studio in Eden Parie, Minnesota, announced a strike.
Amendment on 16-06-2025 by Callum Marshall:
Since the publication of this article, the CWA has since reached out to offer clarity on the strike. They seek to inform readers that this ‘strike’ was nothing of the sort as:
A strike implies that there was a work stoppage or a collective refusal to stop working. The strike lasted from 12-1 local time during workers’ breaks and then workers returned to work. Furthermore, a strike also requires an authorization vote amongst all workers, which did not occur.
However, despite this added clarity, we will still provide some insight into how this situation arose, strike or not.
One of the largest issues here isn’t just that people who enjoy work-from-home are being denied it—it’s thatsome employees require work-from-home accommodationsand have doctors willing to vouch for them—something that Activision, it seems, cares little for.
But the complaints go a step further, claiming that Activision is intentionally trying to strongarm people into quitting their jobs.
By refusing accommodations,the workers claim, Activision intends to drive them out of the workforce while dodging regulations around firing people.
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In addition, a recent email from the corporate higher-ups felt in poor taste, and was not received well.
We’ve further been disrespected by the email discussing National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which depicted a disabled person working from home while our coworkers in need are not allowed this essential tool for equal accessibility. They have been championing DE&I while they continually fail us.
Activision has responded to these events, saying that they’re willing to discuss things with employees - but have not yet proposed a middle ground they’d find acceptable.
An Activision representative toldEurogamerthat they “respect our employees' rights to express their point of view”, but the message was brief beyond that.
This is an ongoing conversation at the bargaining table, and we will continue to discuss our respective interests in that forum.
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This is far from the first time in recent memory where tensions between developers and higher-ups have come to a head. Earlier this month,some employees at Bandai Namcowere pushed into an unpleasant situation.
There, Bandai Namco was accused of using “Expulsion Room” tactics, isolating workers in an attempt to force resignations.
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After Ubisoft announced to employees that they must return to work in person, workers at its French location went on strike following a union order.
Such tactics have become infamous in Japan. So when similar allegations are made in an American context, it’s not too outlandish.
These developers have already taken the steps nessecary to go on strike, so they’ve already escalated things beyond where the Bandai Namco situation ended up. Whether that will result in a more favorable outcome, though, remains to be seen.
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