Recently, news emerged in the media that Rockstar Games has asked its employees to return to a five-day office work schedule starting from April. It later became known that this decision sparked serious criticism from the developers of GTA 6.
The Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) expressed discontent with the company's plans to cancel the option for most of its employees to work remotely. There is even an old petition online, in which the employees of the British division of Rockstar asked the company to maintain a flexible work schedule policy. It was signed by 176 people and was submitted to the management.
In the past, the company did agree to a flexible schedule, but according to recent information, its plans have changed drastically. This is due to the fact that GTA 6 is entering its final stage of development, and Rockstar wants to minimize the risk of leaks and spills, as happened in 2022 and 2023. Some company members in conversation with IWGB expressed concern about this. One anonymous developer stated that «working from home was a lifesaver for many, but now Rockstar is thoughtlessly taking it away». Another developer reported that before the changes to the work schedule, the management did not conduct any preliminary consultations with the employees. The IWGB union believes that Rockstar has broken its previous words and promises by asking employees to switch to full-time office work. Dataminer with the nickname Tez2 even recently reported that the transition to a five-day week was made two to three months ago, and now the new schedule has been officially approved.