GTA 6 developer Rockstar Games has been accused by former employees of crunch, weaponizing bonuses, and ignoring pay inequity.
Rockstar Games has been accused of such practices in the past; however, the latest accusations suggest that GTA 6 developer Rockstar Games seemingly hasn’t learned from its past issues.
Rockstar Games Accusations
According to the new report by Game Developer, three members of the Rockstar Games Workers Union (RGWU), who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, accused the GTA 6 developer, Rockstar Games, of several issues.
The report stated that the developers who reached out to the company were not among those recently laid off for alleged union efforts.
Developers accused Rockstar Games of a lack of transparency around pay and bonuses, which the sources said are used to control and manipulate staff. “When the bonus is particularly good, it can be a windfall, but often the bonus is disappointing and one can end up being paid considerably less than expected for the year,” said one employee.
They continued, “The reasoning given for this is often nebulous, inconsistent between departments, even inconsistent between team members within the same department, and sometimes hinges on completely subjective or retroactive criticisms.”
Another accusation regarding pay is that the gender pay gap at Rockstar has widened in recent years.
Crunch Culture at Rockstar Games
Finally, the employees accused Rockstar Games of still having a crunch culture, even going so far as to include overtime practices in contracts.
“Crunch is prevalent enough that the company built into our contracts, as standard, an opt-out of the Working Time Regulations that stops your employer being able to ask you to do more than about 10 hours extra each week,” said one employee.
What’s worse is that this isn’t the first time Rockstar Games has been accused of crunch culture, and, seemingly, the studio hasn’t learned from its past mistakes or from employees speaking out about the awful workload.
Rockstar Games Unionization Efforts
“Since October, there have been unprecedented average wage increases in represented studios; for the first time ever, there is actually some financial incentive for crunch, and several other policies are changing after years of frustration. The timing is not coincidental—organizing works,” said one employee.
A Take-Two Interactive spokesperson provided the following statement to Game Developer when approached for comment:
“We strive to make the best games possible by giving our talented teams world-class work environments and ongoing career opportunities. We have fostered a culture which is focused on teamwork, excellence, and kindness, and where we support and reward the team across all levels of the business through competitive compensation and benefits policies. We are proud that as a result, our employee retention is well above the industry standard. We have received a request from a union seeking to discuss voluntary recognition. We value an open and constructive dialogue with all stakeholders and will arrange to meet.”
Both current and former employees can contact me securely and anonymously at [email protected] if you would like to weigh in on current events or share your story.
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Tom Henderson is Insider Gaming's Co-Founder and Editor-In-Chief. When he's not running one of the industry's leading independent video game websites, he's probably playing an FPS like Call of Duty,…
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