The makers of the famed Grand Theft Auto Series potentially pulling a fiscal drive-by on some of their employees seems somehow fitting. New York-based Rockstar Games, Inc. is under fire on the Internet this week after a heartfelt letter from the wives of Rockstar San Diego employees was published on a Gamasutra blog. The accusations in the letter have caused both gamers and people in the video game industry at large to cry out in nerd rage, regardless of whether or not the aforementioned accusations are true.
Rockstar Games was accused in the letter of forcing employees to work seemingly endless overtime with promises of compensation in the future. Meanwhile, other benefits, such as health care, have been scaled back. The letter claims that the 12-hour-day workweeks, including Saturdays, are taking their toll on the mental and physical health of the employees, causing depression, family problems, and in one case, suicidal tendencies.
The start of the time period in question is March 2009. The letter claims that employees have been promised recuperation time and compensation for their dutiful hard work, but deadlines have been pushed back, leading almost directly into new ones. The letter also claims that Christmas and New Year’s vacation was cut short a week, and for the last four years, pay raises have not been adjusted for inflation. The letter ends with threatening legal action and is signed by the “Determined Devoted Wives of Rockstar San Diego employees.”
It should be noted that a similar class-action-style case was taken against Electronics Arts, Inc. in 2004 and won by the plaintiffs, who received $14.9 million in compensation for unpaid overtime, according to IGN.com.
In response to the Rockstar PR nightmare, the International Game Developers Association, a non-profit organization supporting the rights of the employees of video game companies, had this to say in a press release: “In any studio, the IGDA finds the practice of undisclosed and constant overtime to be deceptive, exploitative, and ultimately harmful not only to developers but to their final product and the industry as a whole.”
It is fantastic that the rights of the hardworking software engineers, designers, artists, and others in the industry must be championed by an organization because they are so trampled on.
Meanwhile, Rockstar denied everything in a press release, first stating that “… the vast majority of our company are focused solely on delivering cutting edge interactive entertainment …” and “as for the stories spreading around the Internet, yes we have noticed them. Unfortunately, this is a case of people taking the opinions of a few anonymous posters on message boards as fact.”
Fortunately, we members of the gaming community are vocal about abuses within our spectrum and tend not to stand for this for long. For the majority of us, the end result is bittersweet if we know that the people who made our source of entertainment were miserable. Would that not cheapen the experience for you?
This message goes out to the entire industry. This is America. We have labor laws for a reason. Software company employees need to be treated as fairly and equally as employees in any other industry. Hiked-up deadlines and poor management practices are no excuse to make hardworking people suffer.
Not only that, but the end product turns out as something that has a lot less polish if the employee doesn’t care about a game because they’ve been worked to the bone. Happy employees make good products — that’s a standard in any industry.
The outpouring of support from within the community on forums, message boards, and even responses to the original blog are enough to bring a smile to a crusty old gamer’s heart. Though it’s true that a few are asking only whether or not Rockstar’s upcoming titles will be delayed, the majority are concerned for their fellow gamers.
I can’t say whether or not the accusations are true or whether or not there will be legal action, but I do know one thing: The unethical treatment of any worker is not something that we as consumers should tolerate. We are better than that, and our pleasure should not come at someone else’s expense. 
Rockstar Games will not get a dime of mine until this issue is resolved, one way or another.
If they are innocent: Good on them. This goes beyond them, however. I call on all gamers to take an industry-wide stand against cutting corners by burning employees: Do not give your money to those who prove unethical.
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