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Rockstar's a big company—and while we're excited for Grand Theft Auto 6 , that doesn't sideline the studio's potential for cruddiness. Both from a consumer-facing point of view (like GTA 6 being fully digital ) or an employee-facing one, with union-busting allegations in the UK still ongoing.
It looks like, even outside of that dispute, there are still problems. Union members who aren't embroiled in the current legal quagmire spoke to GameDeveloper about their experience with the studio, and it's not looking particularly solid there, either.
The developers, which the report states "chose to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal"—already a bad sign—go into a trio of problems with the company that's making things difficult. Namely bonuses, gender pay gaps, and crunch.
Firstly, that the lack of transparency around those bonuses makes it a useful carrot on the stick for leadership—and a mental nightmare of invisible chess for employees, given they've got no idea whether their bonuses will be good or not, or what even goes into one:
"The reasoning given for this is often nebulous," GameDeveloper is told, "Inconsistent between departments, even inconsistent between team members within the same department, and sometimes hinges on completely subjective or retroactive criticisms.
"They are under no obligation to show their working. Employees want good pay, and if literally anything they do that year could affect it, they will naturally feel they have to be as pliable as possible to their boss's whims."
The report also states that initiatives to address gender pay gaps were scrapped, and that night workers were no longer given extra compensation for their hours. It doesn't help that there's still reportedly an attempt to normalise crunch within the company.
In the UK, labour laws have a baked-in maximum working time of 48 hours a week unless workers opt-out. These employees claim that not only had Rockstar baked in that opting-out into their contracts, but that the steps towards opting back into the regulations (which every employee has a right to do) were obfuscated by the company, requiring a union campaign to inform them they had the choice.
"The union successfully ran a campaign to inform people they could opt back in to the regulations at any time, which resulted in Rockstar management simplifying the process and removing the obligation to meet with HR.
"Part of the problem with crunch is that there is not an agreed definition, and now it seems the company thinks that offering specific and limited compensation as an incentive for overtime means it no longer qualifies as crunch."
The employees claim, also, that this crunch is applied inconsistently across teams, with some who "seem to never get out of it—and often colleagues do not realize the opposite group exists".
Take-Two's response to GameDeveloper's request for comment is mostly boilerplate corporate stuff, but it's only fair I include it here, too: "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."
And hey, at least Take-Two's meeting with them—a low bar, but it's at least being crawled over. It might be that Rockstar's deciding not to get in hot water again while it's still legally tangled in another union-busting accusation.
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