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It felt like a very unreal situation — working for a supposed “top-notch” company only to discover that some of my coworkers (including senior artists and manag

It felt like a very unreal situation — working for a supposed “top-notch” company only to discover that some of my coworkers (including senior artists and management) wouldn’t even have been hired as interns at other companies I’d worked at. I’m not exaggerating. Is Rockst*r considered a top-notch company? I know their output is quite respected but like Mel Gibson there is a difference between looking good on TV and being Good. Mostly it sounds like a bad case of hero worship.

stuhacking 16y ago
I guess the articles impact is that it's surprising that a company with a track record of producing high quality games would have so many alleged issues on the inside. Of course, whether or not you find it surprising is down to experience.
- brown9-2 16y ago
  I could be wrong but I believe "RockStar Games" is one of those studios/companies that got so huge from their initial success as a small studio and innovators that the company size exploded into several satelite divisions/studios/etc, until the point where it becomes just another Big Corporation. Personally I can't believe how anyone who works in game development can sign up for such an experience knowing all the horror stories and "crunch time" requirements that are out there. It seems to take a huge act of willful delusion going into it to think that you're going to come out the other end with a positive experience. There's an expression about how those in charge only have the power that the people below give them, I can't understand how the rank-and-file in game development are so willing to go from 40-hour to 72-hour work weeks without any extra compensation. There are better options out there for you as an employee.
- stonemetal 16y ago
  That is the thing though, the rockstar that is famous for pretty much everything rockstar is famous for is in Europe ( Edinburgh, Scotland to be precise.) So it is a little disingenuous to say he is working for a company with a history of quality. He works for a company that was bought by a company with a history of releasing quality products not quite the same thing.
  - kenjackson 16y ago
    Except Rockstar San Diego has delivered some great content including the game this article seems to be about. RDR has won multiple 2010 "Game of the Year" awards (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dead_Redemption#Awards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dead_Redemption#Awards), had great reviews, and incredible sales. It's also the same studio that produced the Midnight Club series, one of the best racing series and the one that really brought the open terrain racer to market. It seems like a relatively small studio, but one that has a very solid track record -- at least if you just look at the games it produces.
- bmj 16y ago
  I've not worked at a game studio, but I have worked at an interactive design studio, and the basic story is the same. The artists, Flash devs, and creative directors put up with a mind-boggling amount of mistreatment[1] from management in order to build up a professional portfolio. There was a high level of turnover in the creative department, however, because once a portfolio was built, the designer would attempt to find greener grasses. [1] 12 hour days were pretty normal for a lot of folks, and our poor Flash dev, who was pretty darn good, often worked for days straight.
mrcharles 16y ago
Rockstar is not. Their output is quality because they are willing to spend five years on a single game, because they have the money to, and they are perfectly willing to make people redo their work a hundred times until it is acceptable. From everything I've heard from somewhere in the range of 5 friends who are ex-rockstar, from almost all their studios (I've known people from North, Vancouver, San Diego, and Toronto), most of their games could have been done in half the time given some proper management and organization. Really, it's a company where if you want to go home on a weekend the top guy will literally scream at you about being a pussy. My favorite story was from Rockstar Vancouver, where one of the suits from the main office flew out to oversee their work. He came in on July 1st. On arrival to the studio, he called a meeting with all the leads who were there, and proceeded to yell at them about how few people were at the office, which culminated in "What do you think this is? A fucking holiday?" Well, July 1st is Canada Day (basically the same as the US's July 4th in terms of import). Guy was lucky anyone was in the office at all. But just one of many stories that highlight the sheer incompetence and malice with which Rockstar runs their companies.

stuhacking 16y ago

I guess the articles impact is that it's surprising that a company with a track record of producing high quality games would have so many alleged issues on the inside. Of course, whether or not you find it surprising is down to experience.

brown9-2 16y ago
I could be wrong but I believe "RockStar Games" is one of those studios/companies that got so huge from their initial success as a small studio and innovators that the company size exploded into several satelite divisions/studios/etc, until the point where it becomes just another Big Corporation. Personally I can't believe how anyone who works in game development can sign up for such an experience knowing all the horror stories and "crunch time" requirements that are out there. It seems to take a huge act of willful delusion going into it to think that you're going to come out the other end with a positive experience. There's an expression about how those in charge only have the power that the people below give them, I can't understand how the rank-and-file in game development are so willing to go from 40-hour to 72-hour work weeks without any extra compensation. There are better options out there for you as an employee.
stonemetal 16y ago
That is the thing though, the rockstar that is famous for pretty much everything rockstar is famous for is in Europe ( Edinburgh, Scotland to be precise.) So it is a little disingenuous to say he is working for a company with a history of quality. He works for a company that was bought by a company with a history of releasing quality products not quite the same thing.
- kenjackson 16y ago
  Except Rockstar San Diego has delivered some great content including the game this article seems to be about. RDR has won multiple 2010 "Game of the Year" awards (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dead_Redemption#Awards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dead_Redemption#Awards), had great reviews, and incredible sales. It's also the same studio that produced the Midnight Club series, one of the best racing series and the one that really brought the open terrain racer to market. It seems like a relatively small studio, but one that has a very solid track record -- at least if you just look at the games it produces.
bmj 16y ago
I've not worked at a game studio, but I have worked at an interactive design studio, and the basic story is the same. The artists, Flash devs, and creative directors put up with a mind-boggling amount of mistreatment[1] from management in order to build up a professional portfolio. There was a high level of turnover in the creative department, however, because once a portfolio was built, the designer would attempt to find greener grasses. [1] 12 hour days were pretty normal for a lot of folks, and our poor Flash dev, who was pretty darn good, often worked for days straight.

mrcharles 16y ago

Rockstar is not. Their output is quality because they are willing to spend five years on a single game, because they have the money to, and they are perfectly willing to make people redo their work a hundred times until it is acceptable. From everything I've heard from somewhere in the range of 5 friends who are ex-rockstar, from almost all their studios (I've known people from North, Vancouver, San Diego, and Toronto), most of their games could have been done in half the time given some proper management and organization. Really, it's a company where if you want to go home on a weekend the top guy will literally scream at you about being a pussy. My favorite story was from Rockstar Vancouver, where one of the suits from the main office flew out to oversee their work. He came in on July 1st. On arrival to the studio, he called a meeting with all the leads who were there, and proceeded to yell at them about how few people were at the office, which culminated in "What do you think this is? A fucking holiday?" Well, July 1st is Canada Day (basically the same as the US's July 4th in terms of import). Guy was lucky anyone was in the office at all. But just one of many stories that highlight the sheer incompetence and malice with which Rockstar runs their companies.