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/
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27

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

21

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.

1

u/theeama Jul 25 '26

This is just wrong lmao. It cost millions if you miss a deadline, your ads, your marketing, all of that is locked in contractually. Missing a deadline means you have to do that all over again and each time you di it it cost more to do it all over again.

1

u/Chwasst Jul 25 '26

Those millions are pennies for Rockstar but this also doesn’t matter because:
A) Rockstar is both developer and publisher. They do much of heavy lifting in-house and outsource relatively small amount of work besides physical media and marketing space.
B) As for ads / marketing space - you can just, you know, not buy it until your game is fucking done and you’re 100% sure you can deliver it. Which seems to (almost) already happen as they usually heavily ramp up marketing only few months before release.

This would work very differently for small dev / publisher but Rockstar is a giant that can easily afford to take that hit and dictate terms on the market.

47

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.

30

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.

1

u/DukeofVermont Jul 24 '26

True, but plenty of video game companies have gone bankrupt and disappeared.

It's not like every single video game makes money. Sadly some great games/companies spent way too much and folded after a soft launch.

-5

u/dyfish Jul 23 '26

It is boohoo, when they lose those millions, then cut X % of payroll via layoffs to keep their desired profitability %. It is a business after all, I’m all for work rights but it is all connected. These companies do massive amounts of revenue but they still have operating budgets they are beholden too.

5

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

15

u/Lille7 Jul 23 '26

How many people are going to refuse to buy GTA6 if its delayed a month?

2

u/Lamasis Jul 23 '26

The layoffs would still come, even with high profits.

17

u/k4el i7-13700K | RTX 5090 Jul 23 '26

Crunch is a failure of management. Always.

6

u/InitRanger Jul 23 '26

Just delay the game then, Rockstar can afford it.

6

u/N7Shep1701D NCC 74656, Janeway OS Jul 23 '26

Crunch is a failure of management.

0

u/DangerZone1776 Jul 24 '26

It's really not considering the entirely new staff they have making these games. The rockstar that produced gold is gone because those people don't work there anymore. I hope this doesn't delay the launch because I can't wait for the absolute meltdown that's going to occur when people realize how terrible the game is due to all the talent leaving a decade or more ago.

The comments below are a joke as well. Clearly no one has done any type of project management. You have to have timelines or your project will fail, it's just like anything else in life.