Rockstar Games has historically had significant issues with crunch culture and excessive overtime over the years, and though, in the wake of Red Dead Redemption 2’s arduous development cycle, the company has taken measures to ensure that development of future projects (including the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6) can be done in much more healthy and sustainable fashion, following some recent workplace policy changes, it seems some employees are fearing that Rockstar could return to its former tendencies.
It was recently reported that, in order to avoid any potential security concerns in the future, Rockstar had told its employees it was ending its hybrid working policies and eliminating remote work entirely, with employees mandatorily required to return to a full five days of office work starting April 15. Since then, the IWGB Game Workers Union – including members who work at Rockstar – has said in a statement that the company’s new policy “marks a U-turn from previous statements.”
“The mandate comes one year after unionised workers submitted a petition with 170 signatures, demanding continued remote work options responding to a mandatory transition to 3 days office working, in one of the biggest ever trade union actions in the UK games industry to date,” the union wrote. “Rockstar’s decision to implement the new policy also marks a U-turn from previous statements in which the company insisted flexible work options would remain available, stating in an employee-wide email, ‘This isn’t our first step to 5 days a week. No one wants to go back to the old way of working.'”
The union’s statement says that Rockstar has been unresponsive to “widespread and vocal opposition” from workers, and that it has failed to provide any supporting evidence for its claims of “security concerns and reduced productivity”.
Some employees, it seems, are fearing that the new policy implemented by Rockstar will pave the way for the company to fall back into its older crunch practices. One anonymous employee said, “Working from home has been a lifeline for many of us at Rockstar, allowing us to balance care responsibilities, manage disabilities, and relocate as we need. Now, Rockstar is snatching away that lifeline without a second thought for the workers who’ll be impacted most. After so many broken promises we now fear management may even be paving the way for a return to toxic ‘crunch’ practices. Senior leadership need to rethink their reckless decision making and engage with their staff to find an arrangement that works for everyone.”
Another employee said, “As usual, there has been zero consultation with us: the people who these policy changes most affect. Just one of my concerns is being forced to work late hours in the office to maintain contact with global teams when before we could log on from home to attend late meetings. This will mean missing out on spending time with our families. I am also aware of colleagues who have health issues preventing full time office work who are now left in limbo.”
Rockstar has yet to provide an official statement on the situation.