Bungie Encouraging Employees to Work From Home Due to Coronavirus
With Coronavirus concerns becoming widespread, the video game industry is making preparations to [...]
With Coronavirus concerns becoming widespread, the video game industry is making preparations to protect employees. The virus has resulted in the indefinite delay of this year's Game Developers Conference, and the Entertainment Software Association is keeping a close eye on the virus in the lead-up to E3 2020. While conferences could certainly result in the spread of the virus, work environments can also provide a perfect nesting ground for COVID-19. With recent cases in King's County, Washington, Bungie has put in place work-from-home policies to keep employees safe. The company is based in the area.
The policy will extend to all employees. The developer does not expect the work-from-home policy will have a negative impact on their Destiny 2 expansions set to arrive next week. The company released a statement online, detailing their plans moving forward.
In response to the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak we are initiating a work from home policy at Bungie for the safety of our employees.
Season of the Worthy and Trials of Osiris are still launching on time. For more details please read our full statement.https://t.co/vAk0mUFIUh pic.twitter.com/ZlCGeblDzf
— Bungie (@Bungie) March 5, 2020
"Bungie's approach to the COVID-19 outbreak is designed to react to rapid changes as news dictates, including how we will eventually re-integrate employees back into our local offices once the threat of the virus has lowered. While this is a big change for Bungie, we look at the challenge as an opportunity to stretch our ability to create and deliver the same kind of quality gaming experiences we always have in a new way. Be well, take care of yourself, and see you online."
It's certainly encouraging to see the developer making preparations for dealing with the virus. While the industry as a whole stands to lose quite a bit of money as a result of the Coronavirus, protecting employees has to come as a priority. It will be interesting to see how Bungie's work-from-home policies impact the company as a whole. It seems entirely plausible that Season of the Worthy and Trials of Osiris will release next week for Destiny 2 without any issues. From there, however, it's anyone's guess.
What do you think about Bungie's work-from-home policy? Are you happy to see the publisher taking the virus seriously? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!