According to a report by Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, Rockstar has been making major changes to the company’s work culture due to crunch and abuse claims, especially with GTA 6 just around the corner. This is one of the main reasons why GTA 6 has been delayed so far.
According to some employees who have left the company recently, the work culture has improved drastically, and “morale across the company is higher than it’s ever been.” This change came about when Rockstar’s leadership decided they wanted the company to be more forward-thinking and inclusive and not just a “boys club” like in the past.
In 2018, many of the individuals working in the studio complained of crunch and workplace bullying. Both of these problems have apparently improved in the last few years.
What Changes Have Been Made By Rockstar
As expected, making changes to the workplace environment of such a large company takes a lot of time. That, coupled with the logistical issues caused by the pandemic, has caused the brunt of the delay that GTA 6 has encountered. Some of the changes made to the company are restructuring the design department, scheduling changes, and hiring part-time contractors as full-time employees, to name a few.
That’s not all; the upper management has also tried its best to root out all bad actors. That includes people who are hard to work with or have had a history of abuse. Rockstar has also started giving mental health and leave benefits to its employees.
Rockstar’s overhaul started in 2018, when staff called out its culture of crunch, bullying, and frat-house antics. The company has ousted managers accused of abuse and promised to cut down on overtime. One employee calls it “a boys’ club transformed into a real company.”
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 27, 2022
Even though this delayed major projects like GTA 6, these changes have shown that employees are a priority for Rockstar. Workers in the company are saying that no other company has done as much as Rockstar when it comes to fighting bad work culture.
Hopefully, these positive trends will continue into the future and add to the quality of products developed by Rockstar, especially GTA 6.
