Rockstar 'Saddened' By Employee Treatment Allegations

Responding to allegations of mismanagement and poor working conditions at its San Diego studio, Rockstar Games says it is "saddened if any former members of any studio did not find their time here enjoyable or creatively fulfilling." A recent Gamasutra blog post, purportedly composed by a group of wives of Rockstar San Diego employees, set off a firestorm of controversy around claims of excessive crunch and reduced benefits. Rockstar's first public response came today by way of an "Asked & Answered" Rockstar Newswire post, in which a company rep addressed concerns about the San Diego studio and its upcoming game Red Dead Redemption. "First off, [fans] have nothing to worry about" with respect to the game itself, the post begins. And although the existence of the highly-reported employee claims were acknowledged, they were broadly dismissed; Rockstar's response did not explicitly mention any of the specific complaints. "As for the stories spreading around the internet, yes we have noticed them," it reads. "Unfortunately, this is a case of people taking the opinions of a few anonymous posters on message boards as fact. "No business is ever perfect, but Rockstar Games is a tight knit team made up of around 900 supremely talented and motivated professionals, many of whom have worked here for a very long time. "We’re saddened if any former members of any studio did not find their time here enjoyable or creatively fulfilling and wish them well with finding an environment more suitable to their temperaments and needs, but the vast majority of our company are focused solely on delivering cutting edge interactive entertainment," the response continues. "We’ve always cared passionately about the people working here, and have always tried to maintain a supportive creative environment. There is simply no way Rockstar could continue to produce such large scale, high quality games without this. "That being said, making great games is very challenging, which is why we have and will continue to try to keep hold of some of the best talent in the industry and support them in every way we can," it concludes. Rockstar had not previously spoken on the issue with members of the press.