Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 has launched recently and with critical and commercial success. However, the developers themselves are not celebrating. Instead, the Black Ops 6 devs are going on strike after Activision has forced an RTO (return to office) mandate on them in what they assume to be a soft layoff.
The strike took place at Activision’s quality assurance studio located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, US. Dozens of protesters have turned up in front of the Eden Prairie office, calling for a walkout. Among them were the CWA and ABetterABK union and worker’s alliance.
“We work on Call of Duty, we were part of the QA team that worked on Black Ops 6 that just released today. We have worked on Modern Warfare 2 which was the most profitable game the company ever released – and that was done remotely,” argued one of the staff members on strike.
The Black Ops 6 Dev Strike Has Been Brewing for a While
The RTO mandate began as early as January 2024 after years of allowing the quality assurance staff to work from home (due to the pandemic). This move sparked protests and criticisms from the union, citing the policy as a “soft layoff”. Since then, the policy debate and exchange between the unions and Activision went on for nine months. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6‘s recent release provided an opportune moment for the devs to escalate their protest.
According to the unions, publisher Activision even insisted that even those with serious medical conditions must work in the office. To make matters worse, the union has cited disrespectful company emails from Activision regarding October’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
The email apparently “depicted a disabled person working from home while our coworkers in need are not allowed this essential tool for equal accessibility“. Additionally, the union stated that even though Activision “has been championing DE&I while they continually fail us.” At the moment, the strike and negotiations are still ongoing between Activision and the aggrieved Black Ops 6 devs.
