Wizards of the Coast Mitigating Coronavirus Spread
The studio behind Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, Wizards of the Coast, has implemented a work from home policy to mitigate the spread of coronavirus. The corporate office is located in Renton Washington which is near Seattle, a particularly impacted state. The studio’s upcoming title, Baldur’s Gate 3, which will be releasing later this year for PC, Google Stadia and consoles but it may be plagued by delays due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
As of right now, there have been 54 coronavirus deaths, with over 1,000 cases, in Washington state, giving Wizards of the Coast a valid reason to close their doors. Wizards of the Coast isn’t the first Washington state game developer to close their doors, with Bungie recently implementing a work from home policy as well. It’s refreshing to see several studios from around the world allowing their employees to work from home to prevent them from catching or spreading the highly contagious virus. With no end to the pandemic in sight, these companies could be working from home for a while.
“Like many companies in Washington state, Wizards of the Coast has instituted a work from home policy during this period,” said a recent Twitter post from Wizards of the Coast. “While business will continue as usual, we’ll be cancelling regular D&D and Magic: The Gathering streams for the next two weeks.” The gaming industry has been heavily impacted by the pandemic, with events such as GDC and E3 2020 postponed and done digitally respectively. Several eSporting events have also been canceled or moved online due to the spread of coronavirus, with the Overwatch League and NBA 2K receiving changes to their season.
Are you working from home during the current pandemic or are you braving the outside world every day to pay the bills? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Game Rant