Rockstar employees speak out about the idea that they are overworked

Recently, there were rumors that Rockstar employees were overworked. Now, some officials are speaking out against the reports.

The company has given permission for employees to share their experiences online, according to dozens of Rockstar developers on Twitter, many reporting that they can't stand the harsh working conditions the company has endured recently.

Vulture, on October 14, published an article about the development of Red Dead Redemption 2. "We were working 100 hours a week," Rochstar co-founder Dan Houser told the publication. The outburst reached the studio, and other developers from other companies spoke about their experiences with the crisis.

Houser told The Verge that the comment about the "100 hours a week" was related to specifically crafting the game's narrative and dialogue over the course of three weeks.

 "Obviously, we don't expect anyone else to work that way," he said. "Across the company, we have some experienced people who work really hard because they're passionate about a particular project or their work, and we believe that passion manifests itself in the games we release."

Rockstar has a negative history regarding working conditions. A former Rockstar and Telltale employee revealed that during the studio's Grand Theft Auto IV era, "it was like working with a gun to your head 7 days a week". Stauffer further described the studio as "the most ruthlessly competitive and intense work environment imaginable".

Already, Geoffrey Fermin, an animator who has worked at Rockstar for nine years, said the company has improved a lot. "Truth be told at the time, we had a lot to do at the company with how we approached hard work and long hours." "Fortunately, we've grown since then and I'm happy to say that things have really improved. We have a whole dedicated HR team that really takes care of us now, and the work environment is as positive and inclusive as it ever was... stories over the last few days have really upset me because it feels like a personal attack on my friends and family I work with here."

"Number of 100 hours of weeks finished? Zero. Number of times I've received some pressure for this? Zero... My name is Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2. A lot of hard work and hard days went into both, but that's what I'm striving to do this," said one of the developers.

Tom Fautley, another Rockstar developer based in Scotland, said he has never seen anyone forced to work 100 hours a week. "I was asked, encouraged and expected to work overtime (evenings and weekends) when it came to a big deadline. The most I've ever worked in a single week during my nearly five years here was 79 hours, but that wasn't recently. .. I still enjoy my job, and I'm happy enough working here. But I think it should be better."

Source: The Verge