Rockstar’s developers working on GTA VI fear that “management is paving the way for a return to toxic ‘crunch’ practices”…
The most anticipated title of the last decade, Grand Theft Auto VI, is being prepared by the most popular developer in the video game industry. Yesterday, it was revealed that Rockstar doesn’t want any surprises with GTA VI. An unpopular decision was made among the workers. Namely, that workers are being sent to the office to “launch the new Grand Theft Auto with the level of quality and optimization we know it needs.”
Some of the gaming industry has been working from home since the start of the pandemic, but it seems Rockstar wants developers to return to the office for five days starting in April, as the open-world GTA franchise is in the final stages of development.
Bloomberg reported that it was an unpopular decision. The information that has just come to light supports Jason Schreier’s words.
GTA VI is mainly developed in a studio called Rockstar North, based in Scotland, more precisely in Edinburgh. But they also receive support from other studios of the big R. In recent hours, the Independent Workers’ Guild of Great Britain (IWGB) has criticized Rockstar’s latest decision. Anonymous testimonials from current developers have also been published, as reported by IGN.
The IWGB union represents British game developers, and Rockstar workers’ statements show that they don’t want to return to the office so that the studio doesn’t have a “crunch” (periods of intense and prolonged work).
GTA VI developers don’t want to go back to the office for fear of crunch
Unfortunately, developer fears may have some basis. Remember that there were people inside Rockstar who were working 100 hours a week on Red Dead Redemption 2 during the final stages of production. A few years after the controversy and subsequent upheaval, Rockstar employees confirmed the positive changes following the Red Dead Redemption 2 crisis.
For this reason and many more, there are no less than 170 Rockstar UK workers who signed a petition last year to stop going into the office to work three days a week and instead work from home.
It is worth noting that the developer now wants its workers to return for five days starting in April. In order to finish developing the next game in the GTA series in time.
The IWGB union says Rockstar has refused to discuss the issue with developers. Moreover, from April 15, you will turn off remote access to work tools! So it seems like an authoritarian decision that doesn’t consider the opinions of the people who work there. At the same time, Rockstar emphasizes that they do not want to return to the old working methods. The developers are still distrustful. We’ll see what the future brings. The IWGB may have enough weight to force change…
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