GTA 6: Home office for developers only possible until mid-April

One man’s joy is another man’s sorrow. While the gaming world is eagerly awaiting the imminent release of GTA 6, the staff at developer Rockstar Games now have to work at full speed. Attendance at the office has even been ordered. It is now clear when the employees of the successful studio will have to leave the home office.

Scottish Rockstar employees have to go to the office

The so-called “crunch” is a phenomenon that has become increasingly public in recent years, especially in the development of AAA titles. According to Wikipedia, a crunch refers to “project planning in computer game development that involves extra work and systematic, sometimes unpaid overtime”. Crunches always occur when game development reaches a final phase. This is currently the case with GTA 6. When Rockstar Games released its first trailer for the upcoming blockbuster in December 2023, the development studio also provided a release date at the same time.

It is set to be released in 2025. Since this date has been set, the pressure has naturally been growing internally. This is now being felt by the workforce. The studio is currently ordering all employees in its Scottish branch to the office. There can be no exceptions, as working from home should no longer be possible for technical reasons. Rockstar Games wants to take care of this by quickly deactivating the software that previously allowed developers to work from home. The management of the development studio has now made this announcement to its staff.

There are no exceptions for GTA 6

The coronavirus pandemic has made it clear that working from home does not have to be the exception, but can become the rule. Some employers now even prefer the model, as they have noticed that their employees are more effective. For some employees, there is almost no alternative to working from home. Whether you’re a single parent or chronically ill, there can be many reasons why you simply have to work from home. But Rockstar seems to have no excuses when it comes to GTA 6.

On April 15, 2024, the servers that allow Rockstar employees to work from home are to be shut down without further ado. This is nothing new for employees. Just a few days ago, the company management asked its employees to return to the office. And that five days a week. This is according to a report by Bloomberg. The reason given by the company for the pressure on the game developers is that they have now reached the “final phase of development” with regard to GTA 6.

Is Rockstar afraid of further leaks of GTA 6?

Rockstar clearly sees working in the office as conducive to productivity. But increased productivity doesn’t seem to be the studio’s only concern. Rather, the company also wants to play it safe with its move. Jenn Kolbe, Head of Publishing, wrote to the development team that security also plays a major role in this. After all, there is obviously a fear of leaks of game content. In this respect, Rockstar’s home office fell on its feet more than once. For example, the first trailer for the AAA title was circulated by the son of an employee. And that was just a security breach.

Anger on the part of employees

What appears to be the only sensible step for Rockstar Games is anything but welcome from the employees’ point of view. However, the anger is probably mainly due to the fact that the development studio had communicated everything differently in advance. The game developers are complaining that the classic 5-day week with compulsory office attendance was explicitly ruled out in advance. Some employees are now apparently even afraid that they might have to work nights.