There is no doubt that GTA 6 is the biggest release of this year, but despite its status, a new issue seems to have cropped up for Rockstar Games. For a release as humongous as this, developers being under crunch is no surprise, but the accusations levied by employees is worrying.
Employees have accused the company of ignoring the pay inequity currently ongoing. These accusations aren’t new, though, because Rockstar has faced similar issues in the past, but it seems like these issues haven’t been addressed yet.
Pay Inequity Accusations Against Rockstar Surface Again
In a recent report published by Game Developer, three members of the Rockstar Games Workers Union (RGWU) have accused the company of not being transparent about pay and bonuses handed out to employees. As detailed in the report, these individuals have noted that most of their payments are based on bonuses, which fluctuate regularly. To add to the issues, these fluctuations usually lack justification.
Since these compensations fluctuate, they tend to fall below industry standards for payment. They added, “When the bonus is particularly good, it can be a windfall, but often the bonus is disappointing, and one can end up being paid considerably less than expected for the year. The reasoning given for this is often nebulous, inconsistent between departments, even inconsistent between team members within the same department, and sometimes hinges on completely subjective or retroactive criticisms.”
Individuals have also claimed that the gender pay gap has widened at Rockstar Games over the years. Additionally, individuals have noted that promotions aren’t very transparent. The goalposts keep changing, especially when promotions are discussed.
Employees have also claimed that crunch culture is the norm at Rockstar Games. They said, “Crunch is prevalent enough that the company built into our contracts, as standard, an opt-out of the Working Time Regulations that stops your employer being able to ask you to do more than about 10 hours extra each week.” Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time the company has been accused of this, and given its trajectory, it’s likely it won’t be the last time such incidents crop up.
In response to the accusations, a Take-Two Interactive spokesperson gave the following quote to Game Developer: “We strive to make the best games possible by giving our talented teams world-class work environments and ongoing career opportunities. We have fostered a culture that is focused on teamwork, excellence, and kindness, and where we support and reward the team across all levels of the business through competitive compensation and benefits policies.
We are proud that as a result, our employee retention is well above the industry standard. We have received a request from a union seeking to discuss voluntary recognition. We value an open and constructive dialogue with all stakeholders and will arrange to meet.”
Will These Accusations Affect GTA 6 In Any Way?
Since the release date for GTA 6 is already set in stone, it’s unlikely that anything will derail that for the time being. However, the company might be facing lawsuits in Europe even before the game launches. There have been several concerns about the physical copy of the game not being released. The boxed variants that Rockstar intends to launch will only include a code, which will apparently be region-locked. This goes against EU law and could likely invite trouble unless Rockstar Games decides to change its policies at the last minute. There’s also a controversy about how a section of the single-player part is locked behind a paywall, and from the looks of it, that part is pretty significant too.
You can currently pre-order GTA 6, and there’s no shortage of stock. But people have already turned to eBay to buy the pre-order codes at egregious prices. This goes on to show the anticipation behind the title and the lengths to which people are willing to go to secure a copy for themselves.
