League of Legends The manufacturer Riot Games is back in the office as of this week and not everyone is happy about it, according to reports a new report from waypoint. Following local guidelinesthe LA-based company has dropped its vaccination and mask mandates even as Covid-19 continues to spread, leading a current employee to liken it to Riot playing “Russian roulette” with people’s health.
Like many other companies, Riot Games is marching ahead with its return to office plans a few months after the biggest spike in infections since the pandemic began. Those assigned to Riot’s LA campus must be in the office three days a week, waypoint
“I’m angry about this,” said a current Riot employee waypoint. “It’s stupid and pointless politics, badly timed and handled with no real guarantees of our safety.”
waypoint Also, it was reported that the new return-to-office procedures were only announced after a “riot unplugged” Slack channel for venting and asking questions closed, and after the resignation window had already closed enhanced benefits and severance pay.
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Riot Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman said waypoint that masking is still strongly recommended and that special homework arrangements will be made for employees with certain medical needs. Social distancing is also still encouraged and Riot appears to be using RFID technology to conduct contact tracing and send instant alerts to anyone who may have come into contact with a colleague who later tested positive for Covid.
The video game industry went through a massive transformation during the pandemic, setting up remote work for the legions of developers needed to create their blockbusters. Large and small studios have accused of covid part for large game delaysbut the challenges have also come with new freedoms and flexibilities for workers in a field where competition for talent has become fierce and expensive in recent months.
igamesnews has privately heard conflicting opinions from developers about whether remote work is sustainable over time. Some say it offers a range of benefits with few downsides, while others say the lack of casual face-to-face contact has made some aspects of game development, particularly on large projects, even more chaotic than before.
Ultimately, the employees of the individual studios and publishers decide for themselves. The news at Riot comes just a week after the management at Activision Blizzard announced that it would drop its own vaccination mandate. In response, a group of employees at the ABK Workers Alliance announced they would go on strike unless the company changed its current plans for returning to the office.
Activision Blizzard immediately backtracked on part of the plan, announcing that its individual studios could decide for themselves whether to introduce a vaccination mandate, but not all at this time. The ABK Workers Alliance carried out its fourth walkout earlier this week and is still required The vaccination mandate and full work from home needs to be restored across the business.
