Unfair working conditions at Rockstar San Diego?

Bobby Miller 20 Jan, 2010 at 12:53pm ET Article published in Gaming

Trouble seems to be brewing in sunny San Diego, where the Rockstar group responsible for Red Dead Revolver and Midnight Club hang their hats.

The studio is the newest in a disturbing trend of video game development houses pushing their employees to work grueling hours under unfair conditions, according to a letter to Gamasutra on behalf of the “Determined Devoted Wives of Rockstar San Diego”. The studio is currently working on the anticipated Red Dead Redemption.

The letter, which is quite reminiscent of the 2004 “EA Spouse” blog, suggests that Rockstar San Diego employees are being forced to work six days a week at a minimum of 12 hours per day. This pace, according the the letter, has been in place since March of 2009. The letter also explains that salaries over the last four years have not been adjusted to meet inflation.

In light of the Gamasutra letter, Rockstar responded with a letter of its own. Official word is that the studio takes workplace issues very seriously, and that they will be working to address any actual issues that exist within the studio.

In spite of acknowledging the tough times and hard work to finish the upcoming Red Dead Redemption, the email denies all claims from the “Wives of Rockstar” and even encourages employees that feel mistreated to contact their specific HR representatives.

The entire email reads as follows:

Dear Rockstar San Diego

No doubt you are all aware of the comments made on Gamasutra regarding some internal dynamics at the studio and some people’s dissatisfaction with the environment. We take issues related to working conditions extremely seriously and will look to address any genuine concerns immediately.

It’s been a challenging few years, and a tough last few months as the game moves towards completion, but the final product of all that incredible effort is on the verge of finally being received by the public: the stellar game that is Red Dead Redemption, a game of which you all should be justifiably proud and which you should be excited to see come to market.

We do not agree with the allegations in the Gamasutra post (e.g. there has been no reduction in health benefits or ancillary benefits and perks (such as free dinners and massages etc), wage increases across the studio have kept track with cost of living increases, and anyone who feels they have been overlooked for a bonus for a game they worked on please contact HR to discuss as soon as possible). Nevertheless, we do know that the team is working very hard right now, and we care deeply about the physical health and mental well-being of every single person on our team. We are committed to working through any issues anyone at the studio may have, and to providing support wherever possible. Please, if you have concerns, discuss them with Sarah Shafer or with Rob Spampinato who heads up HR for the whole of Rockstar and who will be on-site in the studio for the next few days (Rob is sitting in the “New York” office). If you would prefer to speak to someone in confidence outside of Rockstar, please contact Chris Casazza, who oversees HR for Take Two.

Red Dead Redemption is rightly one of the most anticipated games of 2010, and we’re incredibly proud of the entire team for the truly outstanding work that’s gone into making this remarkable game as good as it is. Here’s hoping we can give this game the reception it deserves this April.

We truly hope that Rockstar isn’t simply glossing over legitimate concerns; employee mistreatment is a very serious problem, and in an industry as demanding as video games, situations like this are far too common. No matter the truth, we all hope that the situation can be favorably remedied as soon as possible.

Comments

20 Jan 2010 ~ 2:32pm Gate28 Now we know what the wives think, but what really matters is how the Rockstar employees in question feel. Maybe they just love their job and want to make Red Dead Redemption a truly great game.
20 Jan 2010 ~ 3:02pm UPSLynx That's kind of what I was thinking (hoping).

I know a few animators that work at Pixar that actually enjoy working full shifts on Saturdays, and they do it, willingly, very frequently.

Of course, that's the same as saying people at Google love their work environment. Perhaps an unfair comparison, but with the email from Rockstar mentioning the free massages, I can't imagine that they have it too tough there.
20 Jan 2010 ~ 3:27pm primesuspect I've seen this kind of environment before in coding sweatshops.

While it's not necessarily "required" to work crazy overtime, the project almost dictates it, and hey, you don't want to be labelled a "non-team player", now do you?

"Oh, we understand you have to go home at 5 while the rest of us work and slave. That's cool. We get it. You have a kid. So does Bill, but he's staying until midnight cause he wants to make sure the AI glitch gets fixed. Tim is working on Bug 13225 cause if he doesn't get it, then Sam and Joe can't work on 32217. That's cool though. Somebody will pick up your slack."

It's a hive mentality. Nobody wants to get singled out as being a boat anchor, so they all bust their asses beyond all reasonable measure because management doesn't "discourage" it. "Oh, look how hard you're working! We appreciate it!"

And then when the game gets released, hell, they may lay off half the staff.

If management set a firm "5pm lights out" policy for EVERYONE, the problem would be solved.
20 Jan 2010 ~ 3:39pm mirage Situation sometimes gets worse, not only due to management but due to employees too. If nobody wants to leave before the others and stays at work to "act" like working, everyone starts staying longer. This can also happen if the manager keeps the record of "early leavers" and starts overloading them. I have been there. But yes, "5pm lights out" policy is the solution.
20 Jan 2010 ~ 4:56pm Idiot_Slayer Things would still be tense and overworked around release regardless. There is an understandable amount of trepidation with a huge project like Red Dead coming to fruition after years of development and being way over budget. That these sort of things happen, I don't know if it helps to point fingers at management, shareholders, or crew.
26 Jan 2010 ~ 5:57pm chrisWhite To some extent, welcome to the industry, that was made very clear to me every step of the way through school and I expect it to be true after I'm hired. I know a lot of guys who work those kind of hours all the time, I know the guys at Bungie & Lucas Arts are doing that at crunch time. No one lasts very long at Blur studios because it's always like that so when the burn out they move on. Hopefully they'll get a couple of weeks off after Red Dead is complete, I've seen some studios give great vacation time at the completion of a project but more often it just means you get a break by way of lay-offs.

That said, that really shouldn't happen for nine or ten months straight, that's ridiculous and people do have legitimate obligations to family but maybe that's not the kind of employee Rockstar attracts. It's a seriously tough call and I'm sympathetic to both sides.

Unrealated; it's about time we get a Husbands of X Studio Employees letter, and not just because I want more women in the industry
27 Jan 2010 ~ 9:22am kryyst I don't care just get me Red Dead.
27 Jan 2010 ~ 1:09pm UPSLynx Very true, the reality of the video games industry (and to a similar degree, the film/VFX industry) is many hours and 6 days a week of work.

I just hope Rock*'s environment is par for the course, and not as brash as the allegations make them out to be.

I don't think we should become comfortable with this kind of work environment, but it certainly isn't changing.
1 Feb 2010 ~ 11:00pm ardichoke

primesuspect wrote:

If management set a firm "5pm lights out" policy for EVERYONE, the problem would be solved.

Except that people would then start coming in earlier and earlier instead of staying late for the same reasons.

I kind of like the way my employer does things (granted the webhosting industry isn't the same as the development industry). They specifically say don't work more than 10 hours OT per week unless you talk to us about it first and we okay it. That and they will also make people take vacations or cut back their OT if they feel they have been working too hard. Once again though, not the same industry.