Rockstar employees dispute reports of extreme overtime on Red Dead Redemption 2



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Rockstar employees denounce reports that the developer is forcing its employees into an extreme crisis. The company has allowed its employees to share their experiences online, according to dozens of Rockstar developers on Twitter, many of whom claim to have never endured the harsh working conditions for which the company has recently been criticized.

On October 14, Vulture published an in-depth article on the making of Red Dead Redemption 2. One line specifically caught the attention of the video game industry: "We were working 100 weeks a week," Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser told the publication. Backlash quickly touched the studio, many developers from other companies having talked about their own Crunch experience.

In a statement to The edgeHowever, Houser said that the commentary for the "100-hour week" was related to the specific creation of the story of the game and the dialogue over a period of three weeks. "We obviously do not expect others to work this way," he said. "Throughout society, we have executives who work very hard simply because they are passionate about a project or their particular work, and we think that passion is reflected in the games we publish."

Crunch is a well documented and prejudicial practice within the gaming industry. Rockstar has an uneven track record in terms of working conditions. Job Stauffer – a former employee of Rockstar and Telltale – said on Twitter that during the Grand Theft Auto IV At the time, it was like working with a gun to the head seven days a week. "Stauffer further described the studio as" the most ruthlessly competitive and intense work environment that we have. " can imagine. working conditions at Rockstar San Diego. Many developers expressing themselves on Twitter, however, say that the culture has changed.

Geoffrey Fermin, an animator who has been with the company for nine years, says Rockstar has improved for the better. "Actually, at the time, we had a lot of work to do in the company with our approach of hard work and long hours of work," wrote Fermin. wire. "Fortunately, we've grown up since then and I'm happy to say that things have really improved. We have a dedicated human resources team that really cares about us now, and the work environment is as positive and inclusive as ever … All these stories these past two days have me really upset, as it sounds like a personal attack on my friends and family with whom I work here. "

Many developers directly refute the idea of ​​100-hour weeks and claim that much of their overtime was the result of their own desire and passion. "I spent almost five years at Rockstar North" tweeted a developer. "Number of weeks of 100 hours done? Zero. How many times have I put pressure on that? Zero … my name is on Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2. Both took a lot of hard work and hard days, but that's what makes me want to do it. "

Tom Fautley, another Rockstar developer based in Scotland, said Although he has never seen a person forced to work 100 hours a week, he "has certainly seen friends get closer to that figure than they are in good health," he added. "I am asked, encouraged and planned to work overtime (evenings and weekends) to meet a significant deadline. The maximum I've ever worked in a week in the five years I've spent here was 79 hours, but it was not recently … I still love my job and I'm pretty happy to work here. But I think it should be better.

The company has not yet responded to The edgeRequest for comments. Dozens of other developers have turned to Twitter to share their experiences as current Rockstar employees. "When you call us a horrible workplace based on false information and you have never worked here or are calling for a boycott of our games (?!), You are not participating in a constructive dialogue", tweeted Timea Tabori, Rockstar North programmer. "What you accomplish primarily is to hurt and diminish the work of your peers."

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