Rockstar has responded to allegations of poor working conditions and low morale for the first time, mostly dismissing the claims while also reaffirming that the games industry is a tough business.
The comments come in response to an open letter written by an anonymous spouse of a Rockstar San Diego developer who claimed to be fed up with infeasible hours and bonuses that never appeared. A slew of comments then appeared to back up the author, claiming that 12 hour days, 6 days a week were the standard. According to the writer, the health and mental well-being of employees was at risk.
Comments later surfaced indicating that the conditions were not unique to the San Diego studio.
"As for the stories spreading around the internet, yes we have noticed them," the company said in an open Q&A session. "Unfortunately, this is a case of people taking the opinions of a few anonymous posters on message boards as fact.
"No business is ever perfect, but Rockstar Games is a tight knit team made up of around 900 supremely talented and motivated professionals, many of whom have worked here for a very long time.
"We’re saddened if any former members of any studio did not find their time here enjoyable or creatively fulfilling and wish them well with finding an environment more suitable to their temperaments and needs, but the vast majority of our company are focused solely on delivering cutting edge interactive entertainment.
"We’ve always cared passionately about the people working here, and have always tried to maintain a supportive creative environment. There is simply no way Rockstar could continue to produce such large scale, high quality games without this.
"That being said, making great games is very challenging, which is why we have and will continue to try to keep hold of some of the best talent in the industry and support them in every way we can,"
Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
The comments come in response to an open letter written by an anonymous spouse of a Rockstar San Diego developer who claimed to be fed up with infeasible hours and bonuses that never appeared. A slew of comments then appeared to back up the author, claiming that 12 hour days, 6 days a week were the standard. According to the writer, the health and mental well-being of employees was at risk.
Comments later surfaced indicating that the conditions were not unique to the San Diego studio.
"As for the stories spreading around the internet, yes we have noticed them," the company said in an open Q&A session. "Unfortunately, this is a case of people taking the opinions of a few anonymous posters on message boards as fact.
"No business is ever perfect, but Rockstar Games is a tight knit team made up of around 900 supremely talented and motivated professionals, many of whom have worked here for a very long time.
"We’re saddened if any former members of any studio did not find their time here enjoyable or creatively fulfilling and wish them well with finding an environment more suitable to their temperaments and needs, but the vast majority of our company are focused solely on delivering cutting edge interactive entertainment.
"We’ve always cared passionately about the people working here, and have always tried to maintain a supportive creative environment. There is simply no way Rockstar could continue to produce such large scale, high quality games without this.
"That being said, making great games is very challenging, which is why we have and will continue to try to keep hold of some of the best talent in the industry and support them in every way we can,"
Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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