Gaming

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 QA Staff Go On Strike

4 weeks ago
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Key Takeaways

  • Activision QA staff who worked on Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 recently staged a walkout over the company’s return-to-office policy which limits remote work options.
  • Employee union ABetterABK deemed the policy unfair and harmful for disabled employees and those with medical conditions requiring remote work.
  • Activision is actively engaging in “ongoing” discussions with affected employees, but nothing has come of it so far.



Activision staff responsible for quality assurance on Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 recently staged a walkout to protest the company’s return-to-office policy. Supported by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), the strike was driven by growing frustrations over the policy’s impact on the Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 developers who rely on remote work accommodations.

Earlier this year, Activision levied a strict return-to-office policy for the quality assurance (QA) team at its Eden Prairie, Minnesota studio, putting an end to years of remote and hybrid work options. The move was criticized by Activision’s largest union, which labeled it a “soft layoff.” For employees with medical conditions or accessibility needs, this shift to in-office work has proven especially difficult, leading to an ongoing dispute that reached a head last Friday, coinciding with the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.


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Backed by the CWA, Activision’s employee advocacy group ABetterABK issued a statement last Friday about its return-to-office policy, describing it as “unequal” and arguing that it has unfairly harmed disabled employees and those who require remote work accommodations. The CWA claims that Activision’s policy forces in-office work even for individuals with serious medical conditions who have submitted doctors’ recommendations to work from home. According to ABetterABK, the company’s repeated denial of these requests for flexibility is creating a difficult work environment and hurting employees’ well-being.


Internal Activision Email Contradicts the Company’s Stance on Remote Work


The walkout was further fueled by a recent internal email from Activision celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month. The email depicted a disabled individual working remotely, which ABetterABK says contradicts the company’s refusal to extend remote work options for employees with medical conditions. ABetterABK representatives also highlighted that the same QA staff involved in the protest worked on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 which was Activision’s most profitable release and completed entirely remotely.

An Activision spokesperson recently issued a statement to Eurogamer acknowledging that the return to office has been “an adjustment for some.” The company mentioned that it is still engaged in an “interactive process” with employees who have requested accommodations, but even after all this time, Activision workers have yet to report any meaningful changes in policy. With Bethesda Game Studios and World of Warcraft devs over at Blizzard also unionizing a few months ago, this seems to be a period of intense change for worker rights across the games industry. It comes as no surprise, either, since the industry has seen an estimated 13,000 layoffs in 2024 so far with no relent in sight.


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