The walkout was organized in response to a March 31 email to staff from Activision Blizzard executive Brian Bulatao announcing the company would no longer require employees to receive the vaccine before returning to in-person work. On April 1, following pushback from employees led by the ABK Workers Alliance, Bulatao clarified that despite the policy shift, leadership of the company's different major studios -- for example, Activision Publishing, Blizzard and King -- would be able to "determine the processes and policies that work best for their employees and locations based on local conditions and risk" despite the companywide policy change. Mike Ybarra, the president of Blizzard Entertainment, said that, for now, the vaccine mandate would remain in place at Blizzard offices, a decision that was echoed by several other ABK offices.

Employees of Activision Blizzard, the video game company that produces World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, staged a walkout Wednesday morning to call for better working conditions as the company faces allegations of a "frat boy" culture and severe harassment and discrimination against female workers. The California department of fair employment and housing (DFEH) filed a lawsuit against the company last week after a two-year investigation found widespread sexual harassment, retaliation and discrimination and that the video game maker "fostered a sexist culture" in which female employees earn less than males doing similar work. Just 20% of Activision Blizzard's 9,500 employees are women, and leadership at the company, one of the largest video game makers in the world, is largely white and male. Hundreds of workers gathered outside the company's headquarters in Irvine, California, Wednesday morning while others, unable to attend in person, took part in a virtual protest. A few hundred employees have gathered at the #ActiBlizzWalkout, exceeding the 100 or so organizers expected.