Roblox just had a massive launch on PlayStation and continues to be one of the biggest platforms in gaming, and on Tuesday its chief executive officer and founder David Baszucki told employees that they need to start coming into the office three times a week.
If they would rather work remote fully, then they’ll need to do that at another company, as Baszucki delivers an ultimatum that remote employees can relocate and come into the office three times a week, “or take a severance package.”
Baszucki also states that there will be some remote employees who are simply not asked to continue with the company, and he also recognizes that some remote employees asked to come back to the office will not choose to do so.
“This is an extremely difficult decision because where we live is a personal choice and it affects all aspects of our lives. We have done everything we can to make this process as systematic and fair as possible. Unfortunately, I know that some employees will decide not to join us at headquarters.”
According to Baszucki this is “the right decision for Roblox” so that employees, particularly new and younger staff, don’t “miss out” on the mentorship that comes from working in-person with more senior staff.
Baszucki also said that he had hoped Roblox could adapt to a hybrid remote work culture, but knew that it wouldn’t work after he came away from three in-person conversations over 45 minutes “with spontaneous to do’s and ideas to put in motion, something that hadn’t happened during the past few years of video meetings.”
He also cites “Zoom fatigue” and claims that “we aren’t there yet” when it comes to virtual work spaces being as engaging as in-person gatherings.
Employees will have until January 16, 2024 to make their decision as to whether or not they’ll make the move to the San Mateo office, and if they do decide to stay with the company they’ll need to have moved to San Mateo and be working in the office by July 15, 2024.
Roblox will at least be helping those it asks back to the office with relocation costs for employees, as this sudden new mandate can have drastic implications in employees lives.
If you are asked back but chose not to relocate, you’ll have three months from the January deadline (April 15, 2024) to transition out of your role at Roblox and into your next elsewhere.
“While we know this is the right decision for Roblox, we recognize that it may create challenges for some of our employees.” Baszucki says in the blog post titled “The Future of How We Work Together at Roblox.”
“Regardless of what our remote employees decide, please know that we deeply appreciate the hard work and impact each of you has had at Roblox.”
The games industry has recently had an increasingly difficult year around layoffs, and while Baszucki doesn’t use the word “layoff” once in his blog post, that’s essentially what this is.
Some employees are simply not being asked back in classic layoff fashion, while others are almost being forced to leave because of this new mandate that Baszucki knows not everyone will be able to accommodate.
A mandate that Roblox gave no intention it would deliver, after telling employees last May that they could choose to come into the office or remain primarily remote, coming in for quarterly “get-togethers.”
It’s almost more unfortunate that the nature of this layoff is hidden behind a claim that Roblox, unlike many other companies within gaming, cannot adapt to a hybrid remote culture.
Though Insomniac doesn’t run a platform for people to make games on, it does actually make games, and has been able to deliver top-quality titles with a fully hybrid remote work culture, its latest being Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which releases globally this coming Friday.