Rockstar Games: New Kotaku article reports improvements for employees – News

For many years, Rockstar Games has been singled out for its practices, including long phases of crunch and a toxic corporate culture. Last summer, Kotaku said that things were improving significantly, before adding to the subject today.

In one new item published about Rockstar, we learn that Jason Schreier was able to interview 15 employees and ex-employees from Rockstar, whose comments mostly go in the same direction. The author notes that during the past year, things seem to have changed significantly :

There seems to be a healthier culture overall. We will see in a year or two if I tear my hair out, but it seems that we are going in the right direction (…), declares one of the employees questioned.

Another employee indicates that the company stresses that it is normal to be less productive at the moment and that it is more important to take care of your health and that of your loved ones. Also, many executives from the San Diego and Lincoln studios have been replaced for mismanagement and the establishment of a toxic corporate culture. Several meetings were also organized to improve the managerial aspect and avoid cases of sexual harassment. However, the process remains long to implement, as pointed out by other interviewees:

It’s like there is an operation to get rid of rotten eggs. There are still some, don’t get me wrong, but it looks like their days are numbered.

Finally, the article begins with the sequence of events for Rockstar who obviously started production of their next big game. Asked about the possible resurgence of old demons, an employee said:

The changes have been good enough for me to stay and give them a chance, but we’ll see what happens when the pressure to deliver the final product becomes a reality.

We do not currently have no information on the next game stamped Rockstar Games. It could be Grand Theft Auto VI as Schreier seems to think, but also from another game, corresponding to mysterious pictures published on the official Rockstar website last February. In all cases, we are talking about a game that would have a moderate size, gradually enriched over the updates.

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