Grand Theft Auto VI is finally scheduled to be released sometime in 2025. After a few leaks, there are some security concerns at the Rockstar Games studio and therefore the management decided on a questionable policy: From April, the team should completely forego working from home.
Specifically, employees will be encouraged to return to the office five days a week from April 15, 2024. The management probably wants to prevent more leaks from occurring. For example, tons of clips were published without authorization and the first trailer ended up online several hours before the planned release.
>> 10 things you need to know about GTA VI: game world, main characters and release <<
The Rockstar developers are now having great concerns after the end of home office. The IWGB Game Workers Union, which also includes Rockstar employees, formulates this in more detail. According to them, it is a reversal of Rockstar’s previous promises.
The statement said: “The mandate comes a year after unionized workers submitted a 170-signature petition calling for a mandatory change to three days of office work in one of the UK games industry’s largest union drives continued to demand remote work options.”
The new approach is particularly annoying because Rockstar explicitly stated in an earlier email to the workforce that the change in question was not the first step towards a five-day office week.
Employees now fear that the crunch culture could return to Rockstar Games. The IWGB statement continued: “Working from home has been a lifeline for many of us at Rockstar, allowing us to balance care responsibilities, deal with disabilities and relocate when necessary. Now Rockstar is taking that lifeline away from us without it to the employees most affected by this. After so many broken promises, we fear a return to toxic crunch practices.”
Rockstar Games has released the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI earlier than originally planned.
