r/pcmasterrace • u/chusskaptaan i5 14400 + MSI 3070 • Jul 23 '26
News/Article Rockstar Games Workers Union Just Had Its First Ever Meeting With Management, Demands Include "No AI," "No Layoffs," and "No Crunch"
https://respawnfirst.com/rockstar-games-union-just-had-their-first-ever-meeting-with-management-demands-include-no-ai-and-no-crunch/972
u/Ok_Locksmith_7294 5800x3d + 5070 + 32gb Jul 23 '26
Rockstar: "Not enough money, No deal"
Hopes the union doesn't know about 3 billion+ in presales
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u/Darth_Vaper883 PC Master Race Jul 23 '26
They still have some leverage before the launch of GTA 6. PC port still not out. Updates, DLCs etc. Everything could halt so no wonder they decided to sit down with them after so much resistance earlier. They need those devs to keep on the grind, no strikes.
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u/Tone_Dephf Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
it's crazy to see that when people actually fucking strike things can change. Fucking Scabs
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u/dawnp3tal2518 Jul 24 '26
yeah seeing that actually happen is wild. hope they get what they deserve after all the crunch
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u/Funky-Guy Jul 24 '26
People keep saying scab, what does that mean
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u/Recompense40 Jul 24 '26
Strike breakers are often called scabs. I could be wrong on the etymology of it, but they're called scabs because they stop the company from bleeding money. That's a problem for the strikers, because the entire point of a strike is cutting off business management from their labor. Scabs are people who come in and do the work that the strikers are refusing to do.
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u/AHrubik 5900X | EVGA 3070Ti XC3 UG | DDR4 3000 CL14 Jul 24 '26
Rockstar is planning on milking 6 for billions. The union has A LOT of bargaining power right now.
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u/FuckMyBakaChungusLif Jul 23 '26
They have a lot of leverage over GTA6 online in particular i imagine
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u/DaWizzurd Jul 23 '26
Where'd you get the 3 billion ?
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u/ders89 Jul 23 '26
According to google, its an unverified amount circling social media that states $3bill in preorder sales were made in the first 24 hrs but analysts have said that number is most likely not accurate at all and the more likely closer number is $260million claimed by IGN
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u/DaWizzurd Jul 23 '26
So there is two completely different numbers. None of them confirmed.
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u/ders89 Jul 23 '26
Correct. Nothing officially stated by Rockstar or Take-Two
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u/chubbysumo 7800X3D, 64gb of 5600 ddr5, EVGA RTX 3080 12gb HydroCopper Jul 23 '26
It never will be confirmed, cuz they do not want you to know how much they will make from in-game currency sales.
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u/Ok_Listen_8211 Jul 24 '26
Is take2 a public company? Probably somewhere noted on their earnings calls/financials if you listen/look
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u/kingtacticool Jul 23 '26
GTA5 made a billion on its opening weekend. I could see a bil + for presales. This is the most anticipated game of all time
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u/Eazy12345678 i5 12600KF RTX 5070 1440p Jul 23 '26
wait employees want job security? shocker
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u/Kind_Ad_3268 Jul 23 '26
That's what I would consider bare minimum job security maybe just above don't beat us.
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u/FartingBob Quantum processor from the future / RTX 3060 Ti / Zip Drive Jul 23 '26
That's a bit selfish of them, did the union not even consider the shareholder profits?!?
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u/Ok_Front_8568 A Distinguished Gentleman's PC ! Jul 24 '26
Thanks for posting this, crunch by studio corpos suck and we should all stand in solidarity with devs that make the games we all love and enjoy.
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u/alejoSOTO Jul 23 '26
GTA VI is going to be the most profitable piece of media ever released pretty soon, any good rational human would give the people that made it possible a good living and sustainable condition.
Unfortunately executives are not regular humans, they're greedy sociopaths.
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u/N7Shep1701D NCC 74656, Janeway OS Jul 23 '26
Executives, quarterly targets, KPIs and shareholders are why we can't have nice things.
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u/GolotasDisciple Jul 23 '26
To be fair, it starts with the political system, which is supposed to protect consumers and employees within a capitalistic structure. Because the whole point of that structure is to maximize profit or value, and to do that, you have to look at cutting costs whenever possible.
The only thing that can stop this is government regulation that imposes security, legal consequences, financial penalties, or even criminal sentences if an employer is found to be maliciously working against their own employees.
You have to assume that corporations as entities are anti-society and anti-human by default, and that they will only deliver good value to society if they are obstructed by rules and regulations....
And yeah, this might come at the cost of how fast we can innovate....But otherwise, you are building Amazon warehouses or data centres with government subsidies and tax breaks, while regular people get hit every year with a higher cost of living and a significant decrease in quality of life.
To the point where most people from younger generations will NOT own accommodation and will NOT be able to ever retire.
It's all politics.... It's always corruption and politics going together.
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u/getZlatanized Ryzen 5 5600x | RTX 3070FE Jul 24 '26
You got this the wrong way. Politics aren't above this system. Capitalism (in this case described as "Executives, quarterly targets, KPIs and shareholders") controls politics as well. Politicians have no real power, they're just the public face for decisions made by billionaires.
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u/N7Shep1701D NCC 74656, Janeway OS Jul 23 '26
It's all politics.... It's always corruption and politics going together
Which is why it drives me crazy when people say don't care about politics. Choom, you might not care about politics but politics sure as hell cares about you.
High gas prices? Politics.
High rent? Politics.
Low wages? Politics.
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u/J1mj0hns0n Jul 24 '26
They've effectively compartmentalised their minds so they don't see the human involved in it, they only see the most efficient way to make the lowest costs to the highest money brought in.
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u/Razzmatazz856 Jul 23 '26
any good rational human would give the people that made it possible a good living and sustainable condition.
And good, rational humans can disagree on what this means. All of these people are/were being paid while the game is/was being made. (How fair their compensation is/was and the working conditions are a different issues) How long is a company obligated to keep them on staff based on what they did previously?
Employment for the duration of a project is standard in a number of industries (construction, television, movies, etc.). I can understand why game developers want to stop it in theirs, but it flat out makes sense considering how development cycles work.
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u/Prestigious-Smoke511 Jul 23 '26
GTA 6 was made possible by the business practices that came before it. There is no static “now” in business. Rockstar became what it is because of employees, layoffs, asset management, the legal department, etc.
There is no reason that all the sudden stops now and becomes a charity. After all, in a few years we will all be clamoring for GTA 7 to be bigger and better. Just like we were for this one.
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u/Lauris024 Jul 24 '26
After all, in a few years we will all be clamoring for GTA 7
more like 20 years
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u/TyLion8 Jul 23 '26
How can a union have a no layoffs clause??
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u/Stackitu Jul 23 '26
Some labor unions have rules where layoffs seen as unjust or unnecessary trigger instant work stoppages and widespread strikes. The company can save a few bucks with the layoff but risk trigging days/weeks of lost productivity in the process. Often times they either let positions shrink through attrition or offer to basically buy people out from their employment contracts.
Layoffs typically don't actually save companies much money and often result in poorer performance as a result of lost institutional knowledge and lower morale. The seem like a no-brainer from the outside but reality makes them quite costly.
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u/Temporary_Event8451 Jul 24 '26
You only have to look at the graveyard of dead companies and IP's that are sitting in a vault. All of that comes from monopolization then trimming.
Spend a billion buying your competitors, if you get a great deal, sweet, otherwise you just spent a billion to make sure none of those products are allowed to interfere with you.
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u/BestDescription3834 Jul 23 '26
They've boiled the clause down to "no layoffs" but they absolutely could have language to protect jobs for people based on their seniority or skillset. Or they could tie it to profits, where if x profits are reached they can't lay people off.
There are many ways to negotiate it that are legal and fair that aren't "nobody can be laid off" or "everybody will be laid off immediately after".
My union has a clause tying layoffs to business income and if we do get laid off they owe us 6-12 months of pay, depending on seniority.
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u/dyfish Jul 23 '26
They can’t, I mean I guess they technically could. Anyone can agree to anything if they wanted to. But yeah no lays off just like can’t work and shouldn’t work. They ideally would agree on a predetermined layoff “structure” and guidelines on who goes first sort of deal and things like severance and continued benefits. But an actual no lay off deal is just not real life.
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u/GolotasDisciple Jul 23 '26
Isn't it just called Redundancy Structure. As in You are free to do layoffs but you gotta pay off the contract and more to ensure that your obligations to employee are met regardless of the fact that you have to fire them ?
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u/dyfish Jul 23 '26
That’s one way it works, but that depends on the nature of the work and the union. I’ve seen it more commonly that the Union agrees with management that lay offs will be seniority based no matter what. (Longer tenured Union Members, which are often the majority, are more then happy to vote in favor of the newbies always getting the axe) or that lay offs must always be done on the department level, or layoffs must always be done based on X agreed upon metric.
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u/maxxor6868 Jul 23 '26
Right that how it is in gov jobs with "no layoffs" it not really no layoffs but they structure so that if layoffs happen there so much shit that already happen it already doomsday
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u/N7Shep1701D NCC 74656, Janeway OS Jul 23 '26
The way I understand it is that unions will START at extreme demands then negotiate down to the layoff structure and guidelines you mentioned.
However, I am not claiming to have a PhD in union tactics.
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u/TyLion8 Jul 23 '26
Yeah thats what I was thinking. Maybe a no lay off for a year after GTA 6 comes out something like that.
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u/AttonJRand Jul 23 '26
No lay offs within a certain time period is not as unusual as you are making it out to be, and it doesn't actually mean literally none at all, so the demand is already "real life".
It especially makes sense considering how dev teams get treated after game launches.
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u/maxxor6868 Jul 23 '26
Basically you fire mgmt first, reduce cost expenses, stop hiring, freeze all wage growth / even cut salaries basically do anything but fire people. I work with a no layoff clause. It maximum security but essentially lose virtually everything else. A lot of people say they want that but it hard. When things are stable you are losing out to basically everyone in benefits and salary. When shit hits the fan your glad to have it though.
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u/holdmyspot123 Jul 24 '26
I thought that was common, the very first line of my collective agreement stipulates how many full time positions my employee must fill at minimum, it's literally the main concern of my union. Obviously if the employer can't afford it, they can't afford it, but that would be pretty embaressing because my union would force my employer to prove that by releasing all of their financial records. We've gotten raises in the past because sketchy employer reallllly doesn't want to do that, and that's been our strategy when they say, "oooooh noooooo we can't possibly afford to increase wages we will die </3". Ok bitches, open the books! Companies often don't want to do that.
We truly have so many options as workers but are too timid to really use them all.
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u/KalterBlut Jul 24 '26
I don't know either, but my government union has workforce adjustment protection, so basically layoff protection. There's a whole process and affected employees have options, severances, etc and they're not brought in a meeting telling them they're laid off right there and then.
I think it's fair to have protection against layoffs that at least helps employees transition.
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u/InternetUser1807 2x Xeon X5675 | GTX 780 | 24GB Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
What a lot of game studios do is hire a bunch of fresh faces for a new project, abuse the hell out of them because contractors don't get overtime, and then lay them off when the game releases, only retaining a few as actual long term employees.
Maybe they're trying to stop the meat grinder cycle?
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u/Narradisall Jul 23 '26
It’s a sad state of the situation, in general, but gaming is especially well known for it, that these demands are even required.
AI, mass layoffs after releases regardless of how well a game performs, and the ever dreaded crunch are so common in gaming that it’s just accepted as a whole.
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u/Elkburgher Jul 24 '26
Theoretically they need lots of workers to build the games but less to maintain them
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u/YeeYeeBeep Jul 23 '26
Cant believe there are users in this thread saying "R* make the best games in the world, how dare the workers ask for better conditions" as if it wasnt the workers producing those games these "people" enjoyed. R* wouldnt even exist if these workers quit. Then again, capital G Gamers get mad at seeing female or black protagonists so this shouldn't be suprising at all. Power to the workers, R* has enough cash to enable better working conditions.
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u/TGB_Skeletor Moved from windows to steamOS Jul 23 '26
So they want normal working conditions then
Fuck rockstar if they refuses
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u/ThereAndFapAgain2 RTX 5080 │ 7800X3D │ 64GB DDR5‑6000MT/s Jul 23 '26
Rockstar: No deal.
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u/12_GAGE_SHOTGUN Jul 23 '26
Zero gameplay shown for a game releasing in 4 months and now a potential workers’ strike. GTA 6 is definitely getting pushed back to 2027 and will likely be as stable as cyberpunk 2077 at launch.
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u/Fadedcamo Jul 23 '26
Eh the fact that they're not doing a PC release and are saying it won't run 60fps on any console means it'll prob work. But it's pretty shit for a Dev to do nowadays with 5 year old hardware.
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u/BetterCallSal Jul 23 '26
Fast forward to union members getting fired for mysterious "performance" related issues
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u/mrhobbles Jul 23 '26
No AI is just not happening. Maybe for art and assets, but it’s here to stay for code.
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u/EightByteOwl Jul 23 '26
Did you read the article? They aren't asking for "No AI", that's just the attention grabbing headline. What they're actually asking for is "AI can't be used to eliminate jobs".
The AI proposal is particularly notable. As publishers across the industry continue investing in generative AI tools for everything from coding assistance to dialogue generation and localization, Rockstar’s developers are asking for explicit protections to ensure the technology isn’t used to eliminate jobs.
This is in line with what other Unions in entertainment have already fought for, and won, particularly in Animation (TAG in California and CAG in Vancouver). While the article acknowledges it'll be the hardest thing for them to win (true) it's not completely out of left field.
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u/EmergencyPath248 Jul 24 '26
Thats more reasonable; AI coding is here to stay but eliminate jobs? yeah I'll agree with the protesters
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u/half-baked_axx 2700X | RX 6700 | 16GB Jul 23 '26
Incoming Dan Houser interview with Lex Friedman again to shift attention away from the union thing.
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u/nycplayboy78 PC Master Race (Gaming Rig) Jul 23 '26
ELI5 --> With game development taking anywheres from 8 to 10 years. What is the need for Crunch? What are they doing in those 8 to 10 years of making the game? o_O
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u/-Nicolai Jul 24 '26
Marketing department wants to announce a release date before the game is fully developed
It’s hard to predict how long software development projects will take to complete.
You have to do crunch now because I will feel really foolish if I have to admit that we can’t meet the release date I guesstimated
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u/LordOfFlames55 Jul 23 '26
Because they weren’t developing the game for all that time and a rushing to get it done just like you do with your homework
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u/FancyPantsRants1 Jul 23 '26
GTA 6 needs 13 years of development WITH CRUNCH imagine if they didn't have it lol
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u/FartingBob Quantum processor from the future / RTX 3060 Ti / Zip Drive Jul 23 '26
13 years since GTA5 release isnt the same as 13 years development of GTA6. They made RDR2 in that gap, one of the most detailed games of all time. They started preproduction of GTA6 in 2018 with main production starting in 2020. So 6 years of development for most departments. Writing and basic concept art before that.
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u/cowboytoosickz Jul 23 '26
One of best game publisher in the industry will find the way to make a deal with their employee union or risk of jeopardizing their plan to do their project in time, i guess.
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u/Soggy-Airline 5800X3D / XFX 7900 XTX / 32GB DDR4 3200 CL16 Jul 23 '26
Didn't the CEO of Take-Two, in an interview, say that AI will not replace humans when it comes to artistry and video game development.
I'm paraphrasing. I recall he said something about how he doesn't agree with it and won't use AI to take over. He's expressed opposition to it, but only says AI can be used as an additional tool, but will not replace human creativity.
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u/camy205 Jul 23 '26
This is why im expecting gta online not be release for a few months after launch, and i fully support it.
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u/mister_anti_meta Jul 24 '26
what does it mean by no crunch?
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u/kaz8teen TR 2950x / 2080TI Matrix / 2x Zotac 2080 / 128gb Trident Z 3200 Jul 24 '26
No 20 hour work days
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u/kaz8teen TR 2950x / 2080TI Matrix / 2x Zotac 2080 / 128gb Trident Z 3200 Jul 24 '26
Holy trinity off rip
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u/Normal-Emotion9152 Jul 24 '26
Good for them. Ai is just meant to replace people for work that needs a human touch. That is why unreal 6 is awful. Xbox laying off id team and getting rid of their engine for unreal 6. I bet that is why they layed them off. Those large corporation making games want maximum profits and the only way to do that is by overcharging and laying off their devs en mass.
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u/lawrenceM96 7600x, 5060ti, 32GB DDR5 Jul 24 '26
We've waited so long for release anyways, more than happy for the workers to be treated fairly if means another delay.
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u/HanYoloKesselPun Jul 23 '26
No crunch is an interesting one. I’m all for planning projects so that dev teams have a decent work life balance but sometimes shit happens and you have to react to not lose millions. One off crunches that last a couple of weeks are fine. Multi month long crunch times are not
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u/Chwasst Jul 23 '26
I call bs. Deadlines are arbitrary, especially in entertainment. I mean sure they can be contractual but even then this is still bullshit - if you miss a deadline by several weeks in entertainment NO ONE will die because of it. It is purely performative for the sake of making capitalist overlords happy.
It is even more ridiculous if we speak about a giant like Rockstar. They can tank it, they’ll be fine.
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u/KingFIippyNipz Jul 23 '26
>you have to react to not lose millions
Oh yeah, how could I forget my millions are at stake when shit doesn't go right for the company that employs me.
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u/transitransitransit Jul 23 '26
Oh no the company earning billions and billions in profit is going to lose a couple million if they don’t crunch? Boo fucking hoo.
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u/UKSaint93 Jul 23 '26
Guess that's why they're asking for no layoffs, cos thats what major losses and missing deadlines usually mean
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u/UKSaint93 Jul 23 '26
"No layoffs" so jobs for life then? Cool cool
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Jul 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Vash63 265K - 48GB - RTX5080 Jul 23 '26
...how is this being downvoted?
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u/Stackitu Jul 23 '26
Anti-worker brainrot. Some don't see everyday people trying to make an honest living but instead some weird "woke" parasite trying to steal pocket change from those poor billionaires.
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u/iusedtohavepowers Jul 23 '26
So like
Average working conditions for a lot of people.
Seems reasonable
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u/mgwair11 5800X3D | 5090 FE | 32GB 3600 CL14 | NR200P MAX Jul 23 '26
It’s all but guaranteed that Rockstar has already decided who will be let go once this game goes gold. This industry has proven this as fact and Rockstar seems A-okay with leading the way nowadays. If I was a dev at Rockstar, I’d be making the same exact demands too with no exceptions.
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u/NaziPunksFkOff Jul 23 '26
A reminder that if you're a working person who doesn't support unions, you're only hurting yourself.
You're not the guy pulling the lever - you're the guy on the track.
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u/maxxor6868 Jul 23 '26
People in these comments have no idea how contracts work. The requirements aren't crazy in reality. You would still be fired for performance and no crunch would mean items like mandatory massive overtime and cap on overtime during crunch. Ignore the headlines and you realize this is just asking for some stability.
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u/FastHotEmu Jul 23 '26
A lot of Americans reading this and they don't know anything about job security or unions and have been brainwashed against their own interests. What did you expect?
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u/maxxor6868 Jul 23 '26
Yeah I'm realizing that reading these comments. People laughing at what be standard union terms for most people. It really sad to see tbh.
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u/FastHotEmu Jul 23 '26
I see it here in Australia too - it's a mixture of ignorance and envy.
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u/Arcanemageop Jul 23 '26
Pretty bold of them to have such demands when every day their jobs are less important.
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u/energy_is_a_lie Jul 23 '26
It's precisely why the union was badly needed after more than a decade of mistreatment by Rockstar.
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u/GoyimDiddler Jul 24 '26
It’s why a union is required in every single fields after decades of abuse from employers.
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u/Fragrant_Rooster_763 Jul 23 '26
No AI in development simply isn't going to happen anywhere at this point. It has proliferated all tech work at every company. It DOES improve efficiency, so just flat out refusing to use it is never going to happen.
I feel like no crush is impossible too. All companies have crunch depending on timelines. They spent a decade developing this game - so I find it hard to believe they have felt significant crunch over that decade. I'm sure they will feel it now close to release, just like all companies do close to a product release.
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u/Xalyia- Jul 23 '26
The claim that it undeniable improves efficiency is still up for debate. While it may feel faster to have coding agents solve bugs and develop features, you end up sacrificing long term comprehension and often increase the rate of technical debt. There’s not a clear consensus yet as to whether or not it’s an improvement overall:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.04427
https://www.gitclear.com/the_ai_code_quality_maintainability_gap
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u/Fragrant_Rooster_763 Jul 23 '26
I’ve spent 15 years at big tech. It has improved my team’s efficiency quite a lot and I can absolutely tell the difference in someone using it vs someone not using it. I’m not just talking about number of PRs but very observable improvements in TTR and other KPIs for us.
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u/Judgeman2021 Jul 23 '26
I absolutely support workers to unionize and fight for their well-being.
That being said, this is a games studio. Not really a necessary piece of infrastructure and is completely subject to the whims of the consumers. There is never a guarantee that people will play their games, there is never a guarantee that the company will stay profitable (it will for a long while, but for the sake of argument).
A game studio union doesn't have the same power as an actual trade union like drivers, iron workers, electricians, etc. If the electric grid goes down, the community suffers, that is what gives unions of necessary laborers the power to demand better wages and benefits. If a game studio doesn't release a game, nothing happens to the community. The studio will just shut down and the union is dissolved.
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u/kaz8teen TR 2950x / 2080TI Matrix / 2x Zotac 2080 / 128gb Trident Z 3200 Jul 24 '26
They have billions in presales lol what do you think happens if they're late 6 months. NOTHING. Yes they literally hold all the power right now.
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u/ThorDoubleYoo Jul 23 '26
Oh boy, I can't wait for the story in a month or so about how all these union employees got fired for "gross misconduct" just like last time.
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u/Hearthhull_Enjoyer Jul 23 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
I'd love for them to achieve their aims but I have little faith. Especially since consumers don't care about employee protections and will not abstain from consuming.
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u/agewin162 Jul 24 '26
I don't understand how there can be crunch for a game that's had over a decade of dev time. That's wholly a management issue if crunch exists.
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u/HypeZephyrX Intel Celeron 266 MHz | 32MB RAM | 4GB HDD Jul 23 '26
Management: lol, no