Rockstar Games has once again come under fire from its own employees, with members of the Rockstar Game Workers Union accusing the studio of ignoring pay inequality, abusing overtime, and using bonuses as a tool of pressure.
The allegations were made during an interview with Game Developer. Three union members said Rockstar is not providing adequate support to its staff, despite the company being behind some of the biggest games in the industry, such as GTA and Red Dead Redemption.
The interview comes after a turbulent period for Rockstar. In recent months, there have been rumors that the studio's workers could go on strike before the release of GTA 6. Tensions have been rising since the redundancies in late October, when more than 30 employees lost their jobs, leading the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain to accuse the company of "union suppression" and attempts to eliminate them.
This conflict eventually led to the formation of the Rockstar Game Workers Union, and now they are publicly accusing the company again.
One of the biggest complaints was about Rockstar's bonus system, which employees call "disappointing" and say it significantly affects their annual income, Dexerto reports .
"When the bonus is really good, it can be an unexpectedly large sum, but often the bonuses are disappointing, and as a result the person receives significantly less than they expected for the year. The explanations for this are usually vague, they vary depending on the department and even between members of the same team in the same department. Sometimes it all comes down to completely subjective criticism or claims "after the fact"."
Rather than criticizing the bonuses themselves, workers point out that the problem lies in how they are calculated. According to union members, staff are often left without a clear explanation of why the amounts paid vary: “The main problem is that [bonuses and career progression] are completely at the company’s discretion and they are not required to show the logic behind their calculations.”
The workers also claim that some of them remain “catastrophically undervalued for their efforts and against the backdrop of the company’s incredible profits.” They emphasize that promotions and compensation are ultimately controlled by management without any transparent criteria.
Moreover, one employee pointed out the company's approach to overtime, noting: "It seems like management believes that if they offer some limited compensation as an incentive for overtime, it automatically stops being considered 'crunch'."
They also pointed to the terms of employment contracts: “Crunches are so common that the company has included a clause in our contracts by default that states that we are not required to comply with the Working Time Regulations. And this document, by the way, prohibits the employer from requiring you to work more than 10 extra hours a week.”
In conclusion, they pointed to what they called tangible improvements since the union was formed.
"Since October, there has been an unprecedented increase in average wages at unionized studios. For the first time in history, crunches are actually getting some sort of financial incentive, and several other rules are changing after years of complete disregard. And the timing is no coincidence. Unionization really works."
According to workers, these changes clearly demonstrate that the creation of a union has already affected wages and internal company policies, even as they continue to demand greater transparency regarding compensation, career advancement, and working conditions.
