In the last year of developing the Vesterna soon Red Dead Redemption 2, The leading producers of the game decided to add black stripes to the upper and lower parts of each non-interactive cut-scene in the hope of making these scenes more cinematographic, like the old school cowboy films. The team agreed that it was a true creative move, but there was a catch: the innovation added weeks to the working schedule of many employees in the studio. “You can’t just take and put black strips on ready -made scenes,” one of the developers told us. “It is necessary to reorient the camera so that the action goes in a certain way, and the emphasis is shifted by something that it was not initially”.

Rockstar did not have the opportunity to extend the development: Red Dead Redemption 2 was postponed twice inside the studio before the announcement, twice more – publicly after it. Instead, they had to Take off ("Crunch"From English. crunch, in colloquial speech – a critical situation/decisive moment, ""to Crunch" – to be in a difficult situation, for employees – to work in an emergency mode -. translator), spending more nights and weekends for processing scenes and mastering an impressive workload in the future. Will the kinematographic strips as a result cost work?

This phenomenon is not new for the final development of games from Rockstar. Dan And Sam Hausers, Rockstar co -founders and creative managers Red Dead Redemption 2 Knowed by the craving for the change and elimination of significant parts of their projects, as well as for the restart of the development. For eight years of work on Red Dead Redemption 2, The Hausers brothers and other development managers made significant changes to the plot, the main mechanics of gameplay and gameplay in general. Some will consider this part of the development of natural, but it creates additional work, and it also contributed to the formation in the studio Rockstar GameS of the so -called “Kranch culture”, the existence of which has been proven by interviews taken from the dozens of current and former studio workers. This is not about sudden tremors of several weeks long: according to those busy in the studio, they could last for months or even years.

Two weeks ago, on Sunday October 14, a sensational article on development Red Dead Redemption 2 In the publication New York Magazine gave life to stormy disputes thanks to the unexplored and inexplicable quote by Dan Hauser about “Hundred Work hours a week” on the way to the release of the game. The next day, the Hauser explained in contacting Kotaku, that he had in mind the work exclusively of the scriptwriters team and only for three weeks. On October 17, the studio softened the rules of behavior of her employees on social networks, which allowed employees to share their thoughts about the tremors they have experienced.

The emergence of the article led to the indiscriminate industry, which was spent on the entire game industry and many issues regarding labor conditions in Rockstar. Does the developer company overload its employees Grand Theft Auto v, The most profitable video game in history? How many unpaid overtime labor is invested in Red Dead Redemption 2? Are heels necessary to develop a game and scope game Red Dead Redemption And most likely her successful sequel, going out on Friday? And what is the corporate culture inside Rockstar?

The next article is a look inside one of the most closed companies in the gaming industry. It is based on e -mail, in text form or by phone interview with 34 current and 43 former members of the studio. Last Wednesday (October 18), Rockstar allowed employees to communicate freely with journalists (only if they warned the personnel manager), but almost everyone who shared his opinion demanded to keep their personalities secret. Some were said that they were afraid of punishment for honest statements about negative experience in the walls of the studio, and some were afraid to seem liars for saying positive impressions. In addition to this, Rockstar organized a video chat with 12 current workers and the head of the Rockstar for the head of the publishing house Jennifer Kolb (Jennifer kolbe).
Development history Red Dead Redemption 2 complex and in places contradictory. For some employees Rockstar, development brought pleasure; This ambitious game required quite adequate time spent and much smaller tremors than previous studios games. Many current employees say that they were happy to work in Rockstar and be able to help develop some of the warehous games in the world. Others described Red Dead 2 as a hard experience that cost friendship, time with family and mental health. None of the respondents mentioned hundreds of hours a week-this is the equivalent of seven fourteen-hour working days-but for many, the average working time per week approached 55-60 hours, that is, six ten hours. The most part and former Rockstar employees said they were asked, or they themselves were happy to work at night and on weekends. Some were hired on an hourly basis, and their overtime labor was paid, but those who worked for a fixed fee, compensation for labor and time did not receive. Those who are still working in Rockstar at the time of writing, hoping that their bonuses for 2018 (and they will be significant if Red Dead 2 will be successful) will help to catch up.

Many of the saddest stories told by the current and former employees – stories about spoiled relationships, nervous breakdowns and heavy alcohol libations at work – it was impossible to publish, since the individuals could be disclosed. Due to complementary agreements on non-disclosure of Rockstar information and the possible consequences of their violations, we decided to be as careful as possible in this article, which was due to which we had to lower some of the most unpleasant details.

Rockstar consists of thousands of people in eight offices in five countries, so there is nothing surprising in the fact that the experience of employees is noticeably varied. Last week, Rockstar shared with Kotaku and other publications with statistics, which includes the average number of hours in the working week of employees. The numbers were collected from all Rockstar offices during the time from January to September of this (2018) year. From January to March 2018, according to statistics, the company employees worked on average 42.4 hours, from April to June – 45.5 hours, from July to September – 45.8 hours. The average value takes into account the employees of all departments at all current projects of the studio, which allows us to understand where such a difference between these numbers and stories that we heard. People whose work on Red Dead Redemption 2 was completed ahead of schedule, or working on other projects that were not in the penny mode (Grand Theft Auto Online, for example), probably worked less. According to those who worked on Red Dead Redemption 2, The design of designers, the cinematic department and the quality control department experienced the most heavy taps.

In a letter sent on Monday, Jennifer Kolb offered another explanation to the difference in the number of hours, explaining it by the fact that “the average value is separate for Red Dead would not differ significantly ”, and that vacation days were included in the calculation (vacation weeks were not included in the calculation). “Nevertheless, an explanation of the difference between the statistics of the entire company (taking into account all the studios under the auspices of Rockstar -. translator) and the impressions of individuals are simple: you hear individual stories, extremely positive or extremely negative, as well as expressed by people who are obviously unhappy with our production process, ”she said.

“There were indeed people in the studio who worked for a long time at different times,” Kolb added. “At the same time, there are personalities who exaggerate their working, because we made sure that the time they declared at the time of their work are noticeably less than what they say now in their online posts. We are ready to share statistics with you if we get permission from them."(We could not discuss the statements of certain people with Rockstar, as we agreed to maintain their anonymity.)

Even among those who got into a heavy penny when developing Red Dead Redemption 2, Opinions vary. Someone left or is going to leave the studio because of the wrong relationship to them. At the same time, others described Rockstar as a great place to work, except for long hours. Some current employees said they were furious by the Hauser statement about the voluntariness of emergency work. “I did not sign it, one of the current developers said. – I just know that this is the price of work here.“We heard about the largest number of heavy tremors from two separate offices: Rockstar Lincoln in the United Kingdoms and the Rockstar head office in New York. From other departments of the studio, we heard many positive and negative stories. The only studio we have not contacted is Rockstar India, although employees of other offices said they heard about no less difficult treasures there and there.

Personal experience can vary, but the stories of the current and former workers draw a completely clear picture: Rockstar Games is a complex mechanism with at times tedious work. This is one of those studios where “work concentrated” means “to give work all the time”. Many told Kotaku, that the feeling of pressure made them stay at night in the office or even come on the weekend if they wanted to succeed. Despite the fact that, according to Dan Hauser, “none of the employees, senior or younger ones, do not force them to work hard”, people who worked or work in Rockstar say that overtime work is required. In conversations, several people used the term “culture of fear” (or the atmosphere depends on your personal preference -. translator), and some claimed that they were afraid of court claims or any other repressions in response to public statements.

“The overall impression of Rockstar is that the company appreciates more than the clock than the bugs you correct,” said one of the current employees, repeating the opinion expressed by many other surveyed for this article. Kolb does not agree with such a characteristic, but admits that many members of her team worked in the evenings and on weekends closer to the release Red Dead Redemption 2.

“I would like to think that in the ideal world we could do all the work without nights in the office, and at the same time I think we are too overtaking ourselves,” said the flask. “It seems to me that we all have. Not only games developers, but also those who work with other aspects of our projects, they think and at the same time are ready to try to achieve excellent quality, regardless of what they are working on: TV advertising, trailer, flip side of the cover … Games are extremely important for us. I think, sometimes it can result in – on some things you can be plundered.
Many crane play studios, and quite rarely is a big game that did not require excessive work. But the stories of dozens of developers Rockstar describe the studio as a place that relates to the treasury much more loyal than other developers; a place where it is hard for people to succeed without many hours. Rockstar make some of the most impressive games in the world. But what is the price of success?

For the first time about Krancha policy in Rockstar, it became publicly known almost nine years ago. On January 7, 2010, the anonymous published a letter allegedly written by the group “Wives of Rockstar San Diego workers”. The letter that received wide publicity was criticized by the California branch of Rockstar for coercive personnel for twelve hours of work a day for six days a week for the completion of the first Red Dead Redemption, released four months later, in May 2010. At that moment, Rockstar dismissed the letter, designating it only “a couple of anonymous posts on the forums”, but people who worked on the game say that the described was true.

“If you left the workplace early on any day, you seemed to look strange at you,” explained one of the former Rockstar San Diego employees, who also told the studio on average 70 hours a week when developing Red Dead Redemption. “At first it was a feeling that they were looking at you intently, and leaving you could really notice these views”. “The essence was that if you do not invest extra hours, you are not worth the work in the studio."

At the most difficult moment of the tap before Red Dead Redemption 2 Rockstar San Diego began to offer laundry services, according to the words of two people who worked there, and, according to another former employee, this made some feel uncomfortable – it turned out that they should not even have time to wash their linen? (In this case, Wouldn’s means that, according to some the top of the studio, they suggested that people should work so much that they should not have time for personal needs. – approx. translator)

“The attitude of these guys [the top of the studio] was such: for you the service of this organization should be privileges,” said another of those present then. “And if you do not agree with this, the line of those who want to take it still lined up to your place."

This opinion is widespread among the Neteckiy, who had negative experience in Rockstar, especially in the time of development Red Dead (Hereinafter refers to Red Dead Redemption, not Red Dead Revolver -. translator). “In any other situation, I would not talk about my work in Rockstar – this is not in my habits,” the former developer said Red Dead Redemption from Rockstar San Diego. “But we were really forced to work six days a week for six to nine months before the release."

Now, even the Rockstar leadership admits: this time was difficult for the studio, despite the fact that initially they did not attach importance to an anonymous letter. “We looked atRed Dead 1 And what came of it, and we knew that we did not want to repeat that situation, ”said Jessica Kolb. “It seems to me that while the team grew up in general working practices, natural changes have occurred in the management of development teams”.

The next Rockstar project was L.A. Noire (2011), a difficult path under the wing of the Australian studio Team Bondi, And then went out Max Payne 3 (2012), a third-party shooter about a vigilant alcoholic. The people who did Max Payne 3, described the development as a “mortal march”, the most severe period for the company, consisting of long nights and many forced tremors.

“I will be honest: many intervals of my life at that time are very inexpressive,” said one of the employees of the Massachusetts office Rockstar New England. “I often came to the office at nine or ten in the morning and left at ten or eleven in the morning.“This person worked for a fixed fee, therefore I did not receive money for additional time. Instead, the team was forced to hope for the commercial success of the game for a significant bonus.

Bonuses are generally an important phenomenon in Rockstar Games. The standard compensation set for the employee includes an annual bonus that grows markedly with the release of games. According to Rockstar, this bonus depends on several factors that include the sales of the game and the individual efficiency of employees. Some former Rockstar employees talked about receiving impressive amounts of money after the release Red Dead Redemption, Sometimes the numbers reached fifty thousand dollars. But Max Payne 3 I did not find much success, because the bonuses for 2012 were much lower than the expected.

Then it was Grand Theft Auto v In 2013. She demanded a treasury from many workers from all Rockstar studios. One former office worker in Toronto shared a documentation showing how many hours a week could work in months before the release Grand Theft Auto v. Those who worked for less than sixty hours were marked with the red word “under” (“below”). One of the former employees of the Rockstar office in England said that the burdens of the permanent Avarala for almost a decade cost many of his colleagues of relations and spiritual health, although the same person insisted that this was one of the best places in which he worked. “They (Rockstar) were – and are – one of the best living companies,” he said. “The problem is that for people working with them this is not just a job, but the meaning of life”.

Very often you can hear Rockstar workers describe the studio as a family – or, to be less favorable, “cult”. Someone shared stories about how the company made efforts in order to help people in a difficult time, for example, when family members died or someone became ill. Some Rockstar was seen as a test of fire: work there for several years, invest extra time, and your resume will arrange projects like Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption, What will give you prestige for hiring any studio that you like.

During development Grand Theft Auto v, The studio began to officially change the development methodology. Instead of the work of each department, on its project, as it was with Red Dead Redemption or Max Payne 3, Now all Rockstar offices have joined efforts. This helped some departments to clear the front of the work.
Others say that they still had a hard time. Three people who worked at Rockstar San Diego from 2011 to 2016 recalled the moments when the Abral was required. “The whole studio needed to work 80 hours a week. If you did not have work with Red Dead 2 (The current Redemption 2 -. translator), you should go and test Grand Theft Auto v for another eight hours.“Another employee told the following:“ Maybe they didn’t tell anyone to work for 100 hours, but they definitely demanded 80. Concept artists sat at work, playing out the role of testers."

The current Rockstar San Diego employee also confirmed that then they were forced to work 80 hours a week. On average, it meant to work 11 hours a day – from 10 a.m. to 9 pm – all seven days a week.

In order to monitor the spent clock, Rockstar demanded from many authorization workers in the internal Bugstar catch system every day they came to work and leave the system when they left the workplace. Separate Rockstar offices used another watch calculation. The employees said to record their individual tasks, motivating this with the needs of the managers when calculating the time of correction of bugs or the introduction of opportunities. Such an atmosphere forced some employees to feel as if they were constantly being followed, and several people told how managers called them to the office and asked why they did not work for more than 40-45 hours a week.

“To think that Rockstar takes care of employees and their health – funny. During work there, I was driven into depression and anxiety more than ever in life. My body was exhausted, I did not feel as if I could have friends outside the work, it seemed to me that I was going crazy for most of my time, I started to flood with alcohol … Now some still working in Rockstar friends tell me that the situation has become better, but Dan’s statement about the optionality of the penny is simply ridiculous. They are optional only if you want to lose your job or never advance up your career ladder." – told one of the former developers.

When Red Dead Redemption https://captainmarlincasino.uk/withdrawal/ I went out in May 2010, it has become critical and commercial success. She was considered one of the greatest games of all times, and there is nothing surprising in the fact that Sikvel gave green light. Red Dead Redemption 2, announced in October 2016, in some form has been developed since the beginning of 2011. Those who have worked on the game in the last seven years spoke exclusively positively, and even those who felt wounded, admitted that work on the sequel Red Dead was creatively pleasant experience. “The work I did was the most interesting and high in my life,” said one of the former developers, who spoke out extremely negatively about his experience in the company, Kranch, and about the company as a whole. “It seems to me that this work gave me more pleasure than anything else in principle.”.

The current and former employees are highly responding to Red Dead Redemption 2, describing it as something previously unprecedented. She is preparing to become one of the most technically impressive games of all time. It was also developed in a long crash.

The name “Kranch” carries a certain mistake: it implies a short period closer to the end of the project, the last opportunity for everyone to do work as well as possible. But in the game industry, the pencil can happen at any time and there are many reasons why the developers are forced to stay at work at night and on the weekend: approaching an important stage of development, visiting the leadership, or the need for a creative leader to see demo, for example.

For some developers Red Dead Redemption 2 Kranch began back in 2016. For other Rockstar workers, the kranch began in the fall of 2017, a year before the release of the game, and even when the penny was not yet officially announced, dozens of current and former employees felt the need to stay longer for various reasons. “Rockstar forces workers to process several direct and indirect methods. The appearance at work on the weekend is perhaps the only way to show that you are devoted and take care of the game. You can work effectively on weekdays, but if you have not arrived on the weekend, you will be accused of non -fulfillment of your duties and will constantly harass it for it ”. – said one of the current Rockstar employees.

In conversations and by e-mail, several current and former workers, independently of each other, used the term “culture of fear” to describe their experience in the studio precisely because of coercion to Abral. “In Rockstar people are afraid of many things. They are afraid that they will be fired, they will shout on them, they will not work out effectively enough, the game will turn out to be shitty and so on, and if for some people fear is a motivator, in others it arouses indignation ”. – shared with us one of the current employees. Some other workers, when they asked them, said that they did not experience anything like that, noting that these things depend on the department in which they work. Those who managed to work in several Rockstar offices described the feeling that they were obliged to stay in the office as long as possible, fearing that otherwise they would be shouted, they would be taken away from them or they would simply be fired.

Even over the past week, when the studio leadership sent a message to subordinates that their comments on work were welcome, some staff members were afraid to tell something. Last week, President of Rockstar North, Rob Nelson, sent letters to all members of the company that management wants to improve “methods for developing projects of this scale” and promising not to punish anyone for feedback. “He repeated that he would be glad to listen to the opinions of the workers, but everyone I spoke is still afraid to speak out”. – told the current employee of the studio.

One of the fears in Rockstar is not a fear of getting into the list of developers regardless of your work if you left the development. Some other former developers complained about this, and Jennifer Kolb confirmed this information: “For a long time, the installation in the company was such that the team should get to the finish line. Therefore, many years ago we decided that if you have not completed the development, you will not fall into the list of developers."

Later, the flask told me that for Red Dead Redemption 2 The studio plans to “celebrate all the people who have contributed to the development, including many former workers”. The result of this was the list of all developers on the Rockstar website. This list includes everyone who has been working on for years Red Dead Redemption 2, but left the game to the release, which is why Rockstar excluded them from the intra-game list of developers. It seems that Rockstar first noted former workers in this way.

For someone, the penet before Red Dead Redemption 2 really was their own choice. Some proud work of developers said that they wanted to achieve the maximum quality of the final product. Many argued about the ethics of a voluntary treasury – and about pressure on other workers created by him – but many employees insisted that the Abraly were not required. As they themselves said, they are workaholics, and they decided to make additional efforts to Red Dead 2 I went out excellent.

In other people, the kranch began for other reasons. According to several sources, during the development Red Dead Redemption 2 There were many points when the Hausers brothers were unhappy with the current quality of the game. They changed the functions of the world and camps, the most important elements of gameplay, on which the journey of the protagonist, Arthur Morgan, and his accomplices were built. One of the former developers said that “there was a moment when the brothers were extremely disappointed with what the game became, they did not like the gameplay, the game did not seem interesting or fun, and this led to the global processing of many elements."

Even simple, seemingly things, like changing the name of the city, created tons of additional work. At some point, the largest city in the game was called New Bordeaux (New Bordeaux), but when Rockstar found out that another game with the open world Mafia III (developed 2K, which is the same as Rockstar belongs Take-Two Interactive) used this name, the studio replaced it with San Deni (Saint Denis). Because of this, I had to drag the actors of the voice acting back to the sound recording studio in order to rewrite a bunch of dialogs, and this meant additional work for everyone who is somehow connected with staged scenes in the game, not to mention changes in the interface and additional artistic work.

Ask any developer what is most important in the process of developing the game, and he will most likely answer: repetition. Repetition is experiments, creating prototypes and changing the game until you find out what will work best. Discarding the work done inevitable, and the investment by the team of additional time in the development of even more inevitably. Many developers consider this to be one of the reasons for the inevitability of the tremors, especially at the end of the development. The voice acting team, for example, cannot work until the rest of the project has been completed.

“In principle, it is impossible to accurately plan the development of such a complementary game as Red Dead Redemption 2”” Said the current employee Rockstar. “Unexpected problems or interdependence will always arise, creating a tender. Because of them, someone will have to work extremely quickly, otherwise he will delay the other 20 people. If someone is looking for standard work from nine to five without surprises, then there are such in other industries in which the game developers will definitely succeed."

At the same time, the treasures in Rockstar are felt different from those in other studios. For years in the industry there were rumors about a penny in the company standing behind Red Dead Redemption 2, And there are many people who can tell the development of history.

During the writing of this article, I got acquainted with many conflicting opinions and stories. Even within the framework of one office, one team can pass through the hardest emergency, while the other works on a standard nine -hour working graphics. One of the current members of the Rockstar New York City studio, for example, told me that they worked 60-80 hours a week over the past two years. They said that they could not imagine the same workflow in the future, but at the same time they could not imagine how otherwise the game game could be developed Red Dead Redemption 2.

“I think one of the greatest errors that I saw in the comments and articles is that we work for money. (Number Crunching literally – Krange for the sake of numbers -. translator). We all understand that we create a work of art, not stamping products. If we created a product, I would leave work at five o’clock in the evening. But we create something that you have never seen before, ”says the employee.

Employees decided to contact us for the reason that Dan Hauser’s commentary on the duration of the penny and his optionality in Rockstar took them away. “We received several messages in which something was written“ in short, guys, we need to do this and this to the deadline-and for some reason I do not see your asses on the ground on Saturday ”” ”. The same employees added that the treasures “absolutely influenced” their friendship and relationship, but still they would all go for it again if they could. “This game would never have come out if we had not invested in it”.

Another developer at Rockstar New York City also got in touch due to Hauser’s comments. “Although none of my friends worked for me a hundred hours a week, many of us worked for 60-80 hours over the past two years. The words of one of the heads of the company that all this was not there was spoiled by the spirit of the team, although at this time we had to rejoice at the successful release of the game.“The third employee of Rockstar in the New York office spoke about a more positive experience. “We work much less than the articles said, and there is no“ secret humiliation ”of those who leave work early”. The fourth employee, also from the New York branch, said that they were afraid to contact me, and that they felt that they worked for long hours under the “oppression of the culture of fear”. The fifth worker said that the last five years have been wonderful. “I would be extremely upset if the Rockstar leadership was denigrated, while some managers and leading developers do really phenomenal work and sincerely care about the staff,” he said.

As in any large, multinational company, the experience in Rockstar may vary noticeably. At the same time, there are several similar moments. The current studio workers, who said that they were crumbling less than written in the articles, raised the question repeated by many others: in Rockstar the presence in the office is most appreciated by the rest. “Rockstar has a clear problem with“ appearance at work ”. They like to see that a person works in his place (employees are not allowed to work at home, with the exception of medical reasons, and even then they insist on taking PTO (Paid Time Off – paid leave). They also love when the employees remain for lunch, and you will feel some shame if you have not stayed for lunch for several weeks (at 7:30 pm) ”.

In the New York Office Rockstar, a lunch has been provided for three or four nights a week since the beginning of the most heavy penny, from the fall of 2017, according to my interlocutors. For some teams, this was not a voluntary choice. One of the messages in Kotaku, dating from the fall of 2017, makes it clear that the penny was required, and it began with three nights a week.

On Twitter over the past week, Rockstar workers shared several positive reviews, and many users, especially from Rockstar North (Edinburgh, Scotland), argued that the penetration during development Red Dead Redemption 2 was the easiest in their memory. Although the management of Rockstar and asked subordinates not to embellish their information, the audience doubted that someone would dare to be done to their employer. And indeed: when I spoke with some of the tweet posts, some answered: although they were honest, they nevertheless went around some details of their stories – and they also hope that the events of this month can lead to improvements in the Rockstar departments, which were most difficult.

Former employees also publicly talked about negative experience. Job Stauffer (Job Stauffer), who worked in the Rockstar PR department, said on Twitter that he worked on weekends during his work in the studio. “Almost ten years have passed since our paths from Rockstar dispersed, but I can assure you: in the time Grand Theft Auto IV As if we worked with a gun at the head seven days a week. “Come on Saturday and Sunday, in case Sam or Dan come, they like to see that everyone works as hard as they are” ””.

Several current employees told me that this did not change. Those who did not work in the New York office said that everyone should have worked out for additional hours every time the Hausers came to them, and those who work in the New York branch repeat the words of Stauffer.
“There were Saturdays when I went to work without any work as such”. – I told one. “I could sit in an office from six to eight hours only because of the likelihood of Sam or Dan’s arrival so that they can see me. This was important for the bonus: the whole thing was not at work, but in the fact that if you wanted a bonus, Dan and Sam should see you sitting at work ”.

Another said: “All those stories that you have heard about people who come only to be seen by Hausers (often Dan than Sam) is an absolute truth … I was once told to go through the floor on a rather calm Saturday so that he (Dan) could see the presence of people in the office."

When the head of the publishing house Jennifer Kolb was asked about this, it was a shock for her: “I can’t talk to any of the managers who could say something like that, and I don’t know any of the checks of the game with Dan or Sam, who was delayed before the weekend … I want to think that we do not believe in the idea of ​​mandatory presence (Face Time) if it makes meaning. We have more if you need to do the work, we expect it to be done.

Kolb said that she used to come to the office almost every weekend, and this continued about the moment when her child was born two years ago. She considered a more productive presence in the office when it is empty, so that she can make out mail and do other work without unnecessary contacts. “I don’t know if I really unconsciously hinted to people that if I am in the office, then they should be in the office. When I think about it now, I really don’t know. I would be more glad if they were sitting at home, so that it was easier for me to work ".

What is happening in other studio branches? Some current Rockstar North employees spoke about positive experience both on Twitter and confidentially in communication with Kotaku, But this information does not include design departments or scripts, which, according to them, are a crane from Red Dead Redemption 2 I hit very strongly. One current employee Rockstar North said that they worked from 40 to 80 hours a week with a crane. “I like to work there, while I received several increase, I worked on excellent games and eventually feel that it was worth it,” he said in a letter. "Except for the treasures, the work is beautiful". Another current Rockstar worker described a more sad situation: “I have never approached a hundred o’clock a week, even in the worst of the tremors. At the same time, I walked a dead march for the most part for the required 50-60 hours a week without exaggeration for years ”. (So ​​that you understand: 50 hours a week is five working days for 10 hours, for example, from ten in the morning to eight in the evening. 60 hours a week another workshop on the schedule.)

Two current Rockstar New England workers, in Andover, Massachusetts, shared vivid impressions. “I just can’t imagine a job in another company now,” said one. “I work on the best projects with unusually talented people, using the best tools in the industry in the company that puts the quality of games above everything else. I also work very reasonable time and is very successful financially. This is a convenient and exciting career, and they care about us in the studio, ”said another. The third, also from Rockstar New England, said that he liked to work in the studio, but at the same time he was told to work for 55-60 hours a week during the penny last year.

In San Diego, some said that the workflow has noticeably changed since the first Red Dead Redemption, and differs from the wives described in letters, while others felt coercion to work at night and on weekends. The two current employees said that they were told to work longer, although some special requirements were not indicated. “This is a matter of internally culture. You have a lunch, and everything is now and then about working hours – about how much they worked by the clock, or how long have been authorized in the system. Cultural value – the being of a workaholic ".
Some Rockstar employees said that they worked for the annual salary, and did not receive additional money for additional hours on top of their standard schedules. Others said that they were paid hourly, but some compared their salaries with the received colleagues working for the annual salary, and realized that in order to receive the same money, they need to work overtime (people with a weather salary usually held higher positions, so it goes without saying that they paid more).

Finally, there is Rockstar Lincoln. Among all the developers associated with us, almost a dozen worked in Lincoln. More than a dozen former employees of this office joined the conversation, outlining a very faded picture. Even some of the current employees who worked in other departments of the studio and spoke about positive experience admitted that Lincoln had problems. If the krancha culture is the problem of all Rockstar, then in Rockstar Lincoln Krange is an epidemic.

In many gaming studios there is a department located at the very bottom, and it is difficult to earn recognition in this place: a quality control department, aka QA, where people go through different intervals of the game in all possible ways to find all possible errors. And although the testers are required for the success of the game, many studios consider them low -skilled and non -essential.
Rockstar has several QA departments, but most of the testers operate in a separate office: Rockstar Lincoln, in England, in the city with the same name. The current Rockstar Lincoln employees consider the work there is extremely hard: the tesers are paid little there, they require work for a very long time, and they are subjected to unpleasant security measures.

“QA department in Rockstar Lincoln forcibly worked on August 2017. In October 2017, we officially started the penny, and it still continues, ”said one of the current employees. According to Rockstar, the testers in Lincoln were forced to work in the evenings and the weekend, starting with three nights a week, later reaching five, and starting from one day off a month, reaching work every weekend. Anyone who wanted two days off would have to work an additional day off the next week, which would mean 12 days of continuous work.

And even before that, according to some employees, they worked as anile. Some explained that the testers were hired temporarily, and they were only happy to work longer to get a permanent job. “Most of the staff work under a temporary contract and live in the hope that the contract will be extended in order to be able to pay housing by the end of the contract. It does not seem to me that someone will talk about problems in the studio, because they hope to extend the contracts for a long time for them to be accepted for a permanent job. Employees often recall how lucky they are that they work in Rockstar, ”said one of the testers.

“I have never had depression before I got a job in Rockstar,” said a former tester from Lincoln. “Now, some time after the dismissal, for me it has become a frequent problem. One of the testers subordinate to me told me that he went to the doctor to help deal with depression, and when the doctor found out about the place of work, he said, “My God, another’.“Two spouses of Rockstar Lincoln employees contacted me and said that recently they rarely saw their husbands.

There were those whose experience turned out to be more positive. One of the current testers called Rockstar “the best place where he has ever worked”, except for the crane. He believes that “such work should not last within a year or longer”.
Only some of the Lincoln testers received surcharge. People working in the localization department received an annual salary, like testers, which created an unpleasant atmosphere when some tesers paid more than their heads of department. Some said that because of this they did not want to increase.

In addition to processing, those who work or worked in Rockstar Lincoln described some dishonest, as it seemed to them, restrictions. Three tesers said that they were not allowed to keep phones on the tables during working hours, and they had to put phones in the cabinets before intercoming the service, which prevented them from maintaining communication with doctors or doing some other important things besides interruptions in addition to interruptions. Two more said that after one of the testers noticed a drone that could take off through the windows, employees were forbidden to open curtains/blinds at night. The testers said that they were not allowed to eat hot food at the tables – tables that were used by day and night shift workers.
Jennifer Kolb confirmed these details by writing in the message: “We believe that most of the employees Rockstar Lincoln have a positive opinion about the working conditions there, and these difficulties are either not recognized by everyone or do not have a real basis at the moment."

For some, of course, it was so. Except for working time. “In general, this is a good job,” said one of the former testers. “And it is good to work on Rockstar. When there is no kranch, this is a very good place. Quite good money, and there is a bonus at the end of the year. Just a pencil practically kills people ".

When communicating, some testers mentioned that they missed important events and time with their family because. Others said that their time was counted up to a minute, and the managers rudely reacted to any lost second. One of the former testers in Lincoln said that he was late for work due to heavy snowfall, because of the other enterprises located next to the office were closed. They did not say thanks to him for getting. He was asked if he could work out lost.

“It seems to me that I will have to get acquainted with my passion,” the current tester said.

On October 19, on Friday, Rockstar Lincoln staff said that the Abraly will no longer be required. Although the flask designated this as a reminder of the old scheme of work (T.e. So it was before the announcement, the employees were simply reminded – approx. translator), and said that overtime was not forced before, almost ten current and former Rockstar Lincoln workers who were related to Kotaku, They spoke out differently. Everyone claimed that overtime was included in their work schedule, and one of them stated that he even received a letter in which the penny was called “obligatory”.

In an electronic letter dated to Monday, the flask gave additional explanations: “We talked with the team in Lincoln to make sure that we clearly indicated the need for additional work, and yes: we only demanded what, as it seems, is necessary to achieve the quality of the final game. From our meeting with the team last week, we learned that some managers denoted the Abraly as ‘obligatory’. At the same time, we do not think that they were indicated in the mailings (Blanket Message-the same messages sent by a large number of addressees-approx. translator) for Lincoln employees, and they were considered mandatory because of the comments of workers who knew that the Abraly were not required, but seemed like that. In any case, we understand that we have problems with communication, and we take responsibility for situations when employees incorrectly understood our messages or messages confused. Over the past few years, we have tried to build and optimize the structure of our QA department, including an increase in the size of regular workers since 2014, and introducing the daily and night shifts in order to more often avoid the need to ask the team to work overtime. We will continue to move in this direction ".

Last Friday, Kolb demonstrated quite normal working time statistics in Rockstar Lincoln, despite the request for daily shift officers to work at night and on weekends. From October 9, 2017 to May 13, 2018, according to her, average working hours a week in Lincoln amounted to 38.4 hours. From May 14, 2018 to August 5, 2018 average working hours were 45.5 hours. But if on average the weekends were taken into account, then the information is erroneous – and certainly does not correspond to the experience of those who shared their impressions.

“Some of us-daytime employees-feel deceived because of the designed average working time,” said one of the employees of Lincoln. “This is belittling the work that we have done if someone from the top wants to exaggerate or downplay the quality of our work with a crane. Rockstar does not need to use such low techniques to maintain the image, all they need to do is to correct the problem, and this, it is worth admitting that they have already taken up ”.

Some employees of Rockstar Lincoln are very optimistic regarding the transition to an optional overtime, but two leading tesers still complained that their additional work was not paid. “Although I am still skeptical of a voluntary emergency without the pressure of colleagues/working security/anxieties due to‘ enthusiasm ’, it is still very good to see that the leaders/authorities are asking for nothing more than two overtimeas per week and two weekends of shifts per month,” the current employee said. “Especially if we consider that we had to tide in November. Now, when I can decide how much I work, I feel wonderful. Now I can spend good time in the evenings!"

We received mixed reviews from people from different Rockstar departments: pride in work on Red Dead Redemption 2, Fatigue from the invested time, anger at Rockstar managers for humiliating the difficulties of the penny in public in the last week.

While the Rockstar approach took the first lanes over the past few weeks, the company tried to deal with the situation with very unusual methods. Typically, closed organizations prefer to keep the press away and not let developers publicly speak out about work, while Rockstar took an unprecedented step, allowing employees to publicly speak out about the working environment. The studio also opened the door for Kotaku – A very unusual way.

On the cold Thursday, I arrived at the Rockstar office in South Houston (New York area-approx. translator) at the invitation of Compip. Rockstar found out that earlier in October I began to work on the article, a week before the commentary of the Hausers, who gave life to discuss the culture of Kranch. The studio suggested organizing an interview with its employees. For several conversations, the top of Rockstar, including Jennifer Kolb, told me that they took the problem very seriously and would like to make sure that I would talk to representatives of all their studios.
Then one of the strangest interviews in my whole life was going on. The head of the PR department and communications, Simon Ramzi (Simon Ramsay) sat with me at the table in a four-story conference hall. Ramzy told me that we will communicate with the staff from around the world through video chat, and, eliminating some technical problems, we finally saw two windows on the screen. In one window, the fact that on the left, two workers were sitting on the couch in Rockstar New England. In the other window on the right, three Rockstar North employees also sat on the couch. All were dressed in everyday clothes (part of which was decorated with logos and slogans Red Dead Redemption). We hastily introduced ourselves, and then they gave me complete freedom in communicating with workers about their experience in the treasury and the balance between work and life. I talked with all five. Simultaneously.

Over the next two hours, the company invited groups from Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar Lincoln and Rockstar Toronto (OAKville, Ontario, Canada). I talked with younger and senior employees. Rockstar allowed me to quote them, but asked not to mention their names.

It is difficult to say how honest people are when they talk about their work in the presence of colleagues, journalist and head of the studio PR department. Nevertheless, 12 employees with whom I had given me a point of view, which cost no less than statements on Twitter.

“I know when I feel that I need to spend extra time – there are always weeks when it seems that you have to spend much more time than on others. On the other hand, it was easier to find a balance between work and personal life, ”Rockstar San Diego shared one of the employees.

“I have worked a day off for five years,” said one of the chapters of Rockstar North, noting that some serious changes for their studio have not passed since the development of Grand Theft Auto 5. “There are people who just want to go home at five o’clock in the evening, and this is not a problem … Inside the company I see that we have changed, and that the attitude towards people has become better, but there are old cultures/habits”.

“Among all projects, Red Dead Redemption 2 was the simplest among those in which I personally took part. Basic time, including lunch – nine hours. Say, I often threw a couple of hours by this time. Finally, during the treasures, I threw up another hour or two over this, ”said one of the employees of Rockstar San Diego.

The employee Rockstar Toronto said: “Nobody told me‘ You must work x o’clock ’. Sometimes we were asked if we could work on the weekend. ".
After one of these conversations, Ramji asked me what I think in general. I replied that I believed what I heard, but I was not sure that the statements could be sincere and honest in this situation. He seemed to be surprised.

I had a thought above after communication with the chapters of Rockstar over the past week. Although they made efforts to discuss the charges of processing, they also facilitated the restrictions of employees of communication, it did not seem to me that Rockstar understood the inevitability of the fear of subordinates to the possible reaction of the authorities. It doesn’t matter how much employees are pushing to openness: fear is part of human nature. In a letter sent by Rockstar North, the head of the studio, Rob Nelson, wrote that some employees mentioned the desire to speak anonymously, so the company decided to deal with this issue. This definitely stimulates more honest reviews.
According to many Rockstar workers, even those who spoke to me face to face, the situation has become better since the first Red Dead Redemption. This opinion was also shared by the flask when I asked her whether it was possible to support the penny for a long time.
“I think we all realized that it cannot be continued for a long time, but I can’t say for sure that we came to this through a combustion at work. I think we understood this by giving birth to children, because it means less time at work. I think even childless people who went through the penny when developing any project approach the development of the next somewhat different. It doesn’t matter who you are, your health is still important. I think everyone approaches my work with the principle ‘I have to do better than last time’."

The flask added that many members of her team worked together from fifteen to twenty years. “We want to continue to work together, but we understand that over the years it becomes more difficult. We work with the next generation of people. They have a completely different idea of ​​the balance of life and work, and they bring this idea to the studio, and I think this is good. They probably think that we are all crazy, but I think that they have changed our understanding of how we can work."
Opinions about how much Rockstar has changed depending on who you ask. During the development Red Dead Redemption 1, For example, life in the studio was perfect for a certain type of people – workaholics, those who want to spend long hours with colleagues, working as zealously as possible to complete the gigantic, abmitial projects for which Rockstar has become one of the most beloved companies in the people. Some employees compare the studio with the family. Someone compared the work on projects in Rockstar with the war with colleagues. Someone used the term "Stockholm syndrome".

“If you advocate for the project, you like to work in Rockstar and you are ready to put all this above your life, this studio is a great place,” said the former Rockstar San Diego worker. "If life is more important to you, everything will not be so rosy.".
One of the heads of the other large studio told me that in the last couple of weeks he talked with two candidates for work that had previously been in Rockstar. When they were asked why they want to leave the studio, they replied: “If you work in Rockstar, you should not have life outside Rockstar."

In the past few weeks, it has become clear that many of those who worked or work in Rockstar – even those who like it – want changes. They want a better environment for themselves and colleagues, such an atmosphere where overtime is an exception, rather than a rule, and work on a dream game does not turn into work for wear.

Or at least where in the future all employees are paid for overtime.
“I am not writing to you because I want to harm the company or game. I am proud of them both. I believe that an incredible amount of time and labor invested in the game will pay off in full, and I cannot wait for the next week when the game is released. I write because I believe that this is a great opportunity to draw attention to the craziness frenzy, and that Rockstar as a result will change for the better. If this happens, then other studios will follow Rockstar, ”the current employee wrote in a recent letter.

Some fans wondered: should they not buy or play in Red Dead Redemption 2, To show their support for those who had hard to develop, but many current and former Rockstar employees are even those who said the most unpleasant things about the studio – against this idea. Firstly, those who invested for many weeks in this game want people to see the results of their work. And secondly, the bonuses at the end of this year depend on the sales of the game, and any semblance of a large-scale boycott can prevent Rockstar employees than help, some current employees said. Instead, fans can more often talk about tremors and similar problems at work in order to create pressure from the public.

On Friday, Rockstar will release Red Dead Redemption 2, And next month it will run Red Dead Online, Before the start of which the current employees. After that, Rockstar will switch to the following projects. The development of games in the studio will continue, and it is difficult to say how the process of work will change.
Is it possible to create art without unprecedented victims? This is a question that hits the game Idnustria for many years, and it is still difficult, if possible, to answer. Can Rockstar continue to make excellent games for which it has become known, without leaving in the kranch familiar for the studio? Or maybe the penny is just the necessary evil, as the executive director of the company said CD Projekt Red Markin Ivinsky? This will be arguing about this for many more years. Now many simply hope that, having united and telling about their experience, they will be able to change something in Rockstar Games.