Rockstar asks employees to return to office full time to stop GTA VI leaks

There are also “productivity” reasons

Hot Potatoes: Rockstar Games joins the list of organizations asking its employees to return to the office. Since April, the studio wants workers to be in the building five days a week. That’s more than most companies would ask for, but Rockstar has a good reason: to reduce the risk of more GTA VI leaks.

An email from Rockstar’s head of publishing Jane Kolbe seen by Bloomberg suggests the RTO order is for “productivity” reasons. This is a controversial answer given by most companies, but Kolbe also adds that “security” is another important factor.

In September 2022, one of the biggest leaks ever occurred when over 90 videos and screenshots of early GTA VI development were posted online. Rockstar said the hack cost $5 million and thousands of man hours.

It was later revealed that a British teenager was behind the hack and the leak. He was sentenced to an indefinite term in hospital prison in December due to his desire to return to cybercrime as quickly as possible.

While not on the same scale as this particular security incident, the official trailer for last year’s GTA VI was also leaked, a day before Rockstar was scheduled to reveal it.

Kolbe’s mention of security in the RTO order no doubt refers to the GTA VI leaks and the hope that getting people back into the office will reduce the chances of another leak. The next entry in the hugely popular franchise won’t arrive until 2025, so there’s still a long wait before it arrives.

As for those productivity reasons, Kolbe wrote in an email that Rockstar has found “tangible benefits” to working in an office. “By making these changes, we are now in the best position to deliver the next Grand Theft Auto with the level of quality and polish we know it needs, with a release roadmap that matches the scale and ambition of the game,” she said. It’s no surprise that employees are “not thrilled” about Rockstar’s decision, writes Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier.

Many companies are requiring employees to return to the office after years of working from home, a policy introduced during the pandemic. Many organizations have gone back on their promise to never ask staff to return, leading to protests and many resignations.