Riot Games reportedly waives masking and vaccination requirements ahead of order to return from office

Another major California-based video game developer is introducing office-to-office orders. According to a report by Vice, League of Legends developer Riot Games announced that employees will be required to return to their Los Angeles headquarters, eliminating vaccine and masking requirements. Riot no longer requires routine COVID-19 testing for employees who have not shown proof of vaccination.

Vice Reports spoke to several current and former Riot employees who expressed anger that the new policy would threaten the health of employees. "This is a foolish and pointless policy that is being done at a bad time and handled without a real guarantee of our safety," an anonymous employee told Vice.

However, despite these concerns, Riot is acting in accordance with state and federal COVID-19 guidelines. California recently dropped its indoor masking mandate (requiring proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test), and other states are following suit.

Last week, Activision Blizzard came under fire after a leaked email to employees of Chief Operating Officer Brian Bulatao revealed that it too would return to the office without vaccination requirements. After a storm of backlash on social media, including a virtual walkout, Activision Blizzard amended its decision, allowing individual studios to make their own vaccination and masking determinations.