Developers decry Call of Duty fan who turned up on studio's doorstep to protest Modern Warfare 2 ban
"We fear for our safety."
An upset Call of Duty player has sparked criticism for turning up in-person at an Activision Blizzard studio to try and get their Modern Warfare 2 ban overturned.
Writing in a now-deleted post on reddit (thanks, PC Gamer), the first-person shooter fan stated they had been stopped by a security guard after entering the car park of the company's office in Austin, Texas on Monday, 31st October.
The fan says they "politely" asked to be let into the office to complain about their "wrongful" Modern Warfare 2 ban, having spent $140 on a special edition version of the game. The fan was refused entry, and told to wait for customer support to resolve the issue.
Putting aside the fact Activision Blizzard's Texas office is largely devoted to games like Overwatch and Diablo rather than Call of Duty, numerous developers have strongly criticised the fan's decision to turn up on the studio's doorstep and seek entry at all.
"Do NOT individually take up vigilante campaigns against customer service employees they have NOTHING to do with your account ban," said Jessica Gonzalez, founder of the Activision Blizzard workers group ABetterABK. "Actually go fuck yourself if you're cheering this behaviour on.
"We had threats all the time," Gonzalez continued. "Blizzard campus had a guy at our gate threatening to kill employees."
"These employees are getting like $15/hr and still can't afford the rent they split with three other people," Aspyr producer Jacob Garcia said in response. "Please don't visit gamedevs in their offices. It doesn't help and we fear for our safety."
"That's honestly terrifying what the fuck," Corsair social media manager Caehlin replied. "Was my worst fear while working in support, that people would just show up at our building for stuff like this or with worse intentions."
In November 2020, police evacuated Ubisoft's Montreal office after a hoax call threatened a possible hostage-taking. At the time, Ubisoft workers described barricading themselves onto their office's roof to ensure their safety.