Rockstar Games Reduces Overtime and Scale of the Next GTA

Back in October 2018, Rockstar Games made headlines when its excessive overtime work culture was exposed in the build-up to Red Dead Redemption 2. Now comes a report on significant improvements in the company.

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/status/1250451170231025666

According to 15 current and former Rockstar employees, over the past year and a half, the company has done a lot to improve the working conditions. Employees note the following positive aspects:

Rockstar has replaced the heads of the San Diego, California and Lincoln, UK studios.

The company held meetings dedicated to conduct and sexual harassment.

Many developers are working on a flexible schedule. It allows them to distribute working hours due to personal preferences and needs.

Despite the fact that remote work conditions decline the productivity, management does not press anyone and emphasizes that health is main priority.

Employees believe that the departure of co-founder and creative vice president Dan Houser will reduce overtime in the final build-up before a game’s release.

Rockstar’s next game is going to be a new Grand Theft Auto, which will get a moderately-sized release at first. The game is going to expand via updates, which will help reduce the developers’ burden. Nevertheless, the upcoming GTA is at an early stage of development, so it is too early to talk about overtime.