- Members of the Rockstar Games Workers Union have alleged that the studio has unfair pay practices and immense crunch.
- The GTA 6 devs revealed how, despite being promised a flexible working schedule, they were forced back to the office.
- A spokesperson for Take-Two Interactive commented that Rockstar provides a fair work environment.
Employees and members of the Rockstar Game Workers Union (RGWU) have come forward with serious allegations against Rockstar. The allegations accused the GTA 6 studio of failing its devs on multiple fronts, including systemic pay inequity, development crunch, and much more.
Rockstar Union Workers Reveal Toxic Crunch and Work Culture Ahead of GTA 6 Launch
In a recent report by Game Developer, three members of the RGWU spoke anonymously regarding their concerns about compensation and work culture at Rockstar, ahead of the launch of GTA 6. They revealed how Rockstar’s current payment structure is extremely unpredictable, since a major part of it depends on bonuses that fluctuate without a clear reason.
Since Rockstar has not explicitly explained how employee bonuses are calculated, workers felt they needed to stay quiet and blindly agree with their bosses and managers just to get paid fairly. Explaining this, an employee stated: “The main problem is that [bonuses and progression are] all completely discretionary for the company, and they are under no obligation to show their working.”
Apart from the unpredictable payment structure at Rockstar, the employees have also accused the GTA 6 devs of having a long-standing culture of a gender pay gap. This is something that the studio has allegedly given up on trying to fix. Additionally, staff working night shifts say they no longer receive extra compensation for those difficult hours, for which the Take-Two boss claimed that there was no dev crunch happening at Rockstar.
The IWGB, or in this case RGWU members, have also accused the GTA 6 devs of building crunch into workers’ contracts, as revealed in recent Glassdoor reviews about Rockstar. Speaking on the crunch, one source commented: “It seems the company thinks that offering specific and limited compensation as an incentive for overtime means it no longer qualifies as crunch.”
On top of all this, workers are also upset that while working on the massively hyped GTA 6, Rockstar told them they could continue working from home. Yet, they were later forced to return to the office. While regular workers are forced back into the office, company leaders still have the liberty to work flexibly.
Union members then went on to explain how organizing and pushing back against the current work culture has benefited them, stating: “Since October, there have been unprecedented average wage increases in represented studios, for the first time ever, there is actually some financial incentive for crunch, and several other policies are changing after years of frustration. The timing is not coincidental—organizing works.”
Take-Two Interactive, the company behind Rockstar Games, has commented on these new allegations, claiming they provide a great place to work and reward their employees well. At the same time, IWGB has applied for voluntary recognition, aiming for additional workers’ rights and better bargaining structures for pay transparency. Several GTA 6 devs have expressed how improving the overall work culture at the studio could help Rockstar develop even better games.
Speaking on the request from the IGWB to be formally recognized, Rockstar stated: “We value an open and constructive dialogue with all stakeholders and will arrange to meet.” Based on the company’s statement, RGWU members are hoping that the subtle push by unions and Rockstar’s open dialogue will finally lead to better, fairer treatment, especially with GTA 6 set to launch on November 19, 2026.
