Recently it became known that production of Grand Theft Auto VI is entering the final stage – and, as a result, Rockstar Games has demanded that its employees return to the office for a five-day work week for productivity reasons. The union (and the developers) didn’t like it.
The IWGB Game Workers Union group commented on the situation. According to its representatives, Rockstar is behaving incorrectly:
“It is unacceptable that Rockstar Games management has once again broken its promise and ignored employee demands for basic working conditions. Workers across the industry are tired of letting management make reckless decisions, and the people at Rockstar Games are showing what happens when they ignore them.” – Austin Kelmore, IWGB Chairman.
Ordinary employees are also not at all happy with the new requirement: they are used to working at home, some have even moved further away from the office, and some even have disabilities and limited mobility. Rockstar Games doesn’t care about such little things: on April 15, the company will turn off all technologies for remote access to workspaces. The staff is not at all happy about this:
For many of us, remote work was a lifeline and allowed us to maintain a balance between work and personal life. Now, without a second thought, Rockstar Games is taking that lifeline away from the people who will suffer the most. After so many promises, we are worried that management will return to toxic practices.
We will miss time that we could spend with our families. I know colleagues with health problems who cannot afford to work in an office full time. Now they are in limbo.
Let us remind you that this is not the first such scandal involving Rockstar Games. Ever since the development of the original Red Dead Redemption, the company has been accused of inhumane working conditions and incredible crunch before the release of each major game (which, however, is becoming less and less over the years).