Rockstar Games is asking its employees to stop teleworking

To say that the next title in the Grand Theft Auto saga is highly anticipated would be an understatement. Scheduled for 2025, the game’s development is entering its final phase. So, pressure is mounting for the game’s maker, Rockstar Games, which has asked all its employees to return to the office in person five days a week and thus avoid TV ©work.

The new rule should take effect from April, internal emails consulted by Bloomberg mentioned. “Making these changes now puts us in the best position to deliver the next Grand Theft Auto with the level of quality and polish required, as well as a release roadmap that matches the scale and ambition of the game.”, writes Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar Games’ publishing manager. Company also found “Tangible Benefits” In person at work, refers to email. This, for productivity issues… but also for cyber security issues.

Because the project suffered from numerous leaks. In December, a teenage member of the hacker group Lapsus$ was convicted of blackmailing developers. The young man threatened to reveal the source code of the new part. The airing of the first trailer also had to be brought forward by a few hours due to a leak revealing the first images of the project.

Disgruntled employees

In 2018, hundreds of studio employees spoke to the press about the difficult working environment and the pace of meeting tight deadlines. “It’s been almost ten years since I left Rockstar, but I can assure you that back in the days of GTA IV, it was like working with a gun to your head 7 days a week.” Then the studio announced the former head of the social network, Job Stauffer.

The company says efforts have since been made to improve working conditions, such as implementing wellness programs and reevaluating professional practices. This almost complete abandonment of teleworking to complete GTA 6 was therefore poorly received by employees. They accuse Rockstar “Broken Promises”

And warn about the danger of overwork.

Taking advantage of teleworking, some employees have moved away from studios and find themselves in a difficult situation today, says the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain, which represents video game developers in the UK. “One of my concerns is having to work late in the office to keep in touch with international teams, before we can log in from home to attend late meetings.”Rockstar employee testimony cited by union. “This means we won’t be able to spend time with our families.”. But the measures also affect employees “Those whose health problems prevent them from working full-time in the office and who now find themselves in limbo”The testimony confirms the same.

Also readWith GTA 6, Rockstar hopes to reproduce the phenomenal success of GTA 5

Social distancing was required in development studios during various lockdowns, and continued post-Covid at the request of creators. This practice does not affect the quality of titles, but it can slow down their production. Studio Insomniac Games thus produced a Spider-Man 2 game in which the teams were primarily remote, even though it had recently been targeted by a major cyberattack.

GTA 6 already promises its share of chases, parties on yachts and heists. Video game fans have been eagerly waiting for it, as the latest opus was released in September 2013. 190 million copies were sold, grossing nearly $8 billion. But fans will have to be patient… if this announcement reveals that Rockstar wants to meet the deadline, “The Home Stretch” That doesn’t mean the game is ready. A release in 2025 could mean January… as well as December.