'Grand Theft Auto VI' means every day is an office day for Rockstar workers
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- Rockstar Games is mandating a return-to-office for its employees from April, Bloomberg reported.
- It comes ahead of the release of "Grand Theft Auto VI" next year.
- The game's been subject to leaks, leading Rockstar to an RTO drive on security grounds.
Rockstar Games just issued a return-to-office ultimatum, a move it hopes will drive productivity and curb leaks ahead of the biggest gaming launch in over a decade.
The developer behind the Grand Theft Auto games has asked employees to return to the office five days a week from April, per Bloomberg, as it enters the final stages of development for the franchise's next installment, "Grand Theft Auto VI."
Like many companies issuing RTO mandates, Rockstar's head of publishing Jenn Kolbe reportedly cited "productivity" in an email to staff as one reason for the move to bring staff back ahead of the release of arguably the most anticipated game of all time.
She didn't stop there, however: employees were told "security" was a factor, too.
IP and sales worth billions on the line
Security has always been a huge priority at Rockstar.
The company — which sold more than 195 million units of "Grand Theft Auto V" and raked in about $8 billion since its release in 2013 — is notoriously secretive and asks employees to sign some of the strictest NDAs in the industry to protect its intellectual property.
For instance, Ned Luke, a voice actor for one of the main characters in the last game, once recalled how he thought he'd get fired after a friend outed his involvement on social media ahead of schedule.
But in the run-up to the release of "Grand Theft Auto VI," Rockstar, which adopted remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic, has had several security issues to contend with.
A major issue came in September 2022, after a hacker published early footage of the game. The company blamed a "network intrusion in which an unauthorized third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information."
"We are extremely disappointed to have any details of our next game shared with you all in this way," Rockstar said on Twitter at the time.
The company faced another breach after its first official trailer for the game was leaked in December. That leak was reportedly from a Rockstar developer's son who dumped what he got hold of on TikTok.
Clearly, Rockstar has reason to feel angsty about employees being out of sight ahead of a release that will have been 12 years in the making.
In turn, it makes any attempt at a fightback tougher.
RTO mandates have been met with fierce opposition from employees who feel they have been pushed back to the office over vague concepts like productivity, collaboration, and boosting performance.
Research published last month, based on analysis of RTO data from 137 S&P 500 firms, gave weight to the arguments of workers critical of RTO mandates after finding the policies made little to no difference to their stated goals.
The gaming industry has proven remote work is productive and practical, with games like "Spider-Man 2" being made from home, as Bloomberg's Jason Schreier has previously noted.
No doubt Rockstar staffers will point to this as a reason not to drag them back into the office.
The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) said the decision by Rockstar came a year after 170 Rockstar workers signed a petition "opposing mandatory 3-day office work."
Rockstar workers represented by the union accused the developer of "broken promises" and said they had concerns around a "heightened risk of overwork," which the company has been criticised for in the past.
One anonymous worker quoted in a statement from the IWGB said that working from home had "been a lifeline" that allowed staff to balance care responsibilities, manage disabilities, and relocate as they needed.
Whether Rockstar decides to soften its stance remains to be seen.
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