Apparently, Rockstar Games believes that the only way it can get its next big release out the door is by mandating employees to work in-office, and as one might expect, the developers aren’t buying it.
The studio announced last week that employees will be required to work in-person at Rockstar North’s offices five days out of the week starting on April 15th instead of continuing remote or hybrid work. The mandate will purportedly increase productivity and security, according to the internal memo from Rockstar head of publishing Jenn Kolbe.
Developers who are represented by the Independent Workers’ union of Great Britain (IWGB), however, are pushing back against the RTO order, calling it a “reckless decision,” accusing the studio of breaking promises and not consulting with workers, and raising concerns about multiple issues such as living arrangements, health problems, and the fear of being crunched to get GTA 6 finished.
“It is unacceptable that Rockstar leadership have gone back on their word time and time again and have ignored the workers’ requests for basic working conditions,” says IWGB chair Austin Kelmore. “Workers across the industry are done with letting executives make reckless and harmful decisions and the Rockstar workers are showing us the start of what’s to come if they’re continually ignored.”
