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[KOTAKU] - Dan Houser clarifies the "We were working 100-hours week"
- Thread starter Rodjer
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Thank god. So this is just a statement release!
Definitely staying tuned
seems like a statement sent to Kotaku instead of an ongoing correspondence
Those passionate workers! Giving up their physical and mental welfare to work :')
I'm sure they weren't forced™ by any means. Hey, they maybe got paid too, so who cares?
Fuck people with a heroic work ethic. Weirdos who don't mind forgoing a life to focus on work fuck it up for everyone else, because their warped priorities become a metric that everyone else is measured against.
My salary is based on a normal work week. If you want me to work more, pay me more. Just because some suckers are happy to dilute their pay by working significant overtime doesn't mean everyone should have to follow suit. The games industry is one of the most prominent examples of this, especially on this gaming forum, but crunch exists in varying degrees in every industry. It's fucked.
My salary is based on a normal work week. If you want me to work more, pay me more. Just because some suckers are happy to dilute their pay by working significant overtime doesn't mean everyone should have to follow suit. The games industry is one of the most prominent examples of this, especially on this gaming forum, but crunch exists in varying degrees in every industry. It's fucked.
Glass Door reviews are hardly concrete evidence.
Last time a round, which was 10 years ago (which also happens to coincide with that other account that people are linking), we had a letter made up by the spouses of Rockstar employees. That was concrete evidence. This time around, we have nothing of the sort. Who's to say that things haven't measurably improved since then, and that what Dan Houser here is saying isn't the truth?
The immediate dismissal of his clarification is especially egregious given the fact that this entire conversation was predicated on a quote he himself made. It really seems like lots of people just want this to be true, no matter what anyone says.
This is bullshit. "They're doing it by choice!"
Even if there are some who do it by choice, others will be forced to keep up. It sets a terrible standard at the entire company.
Just to be clear:
- The news of Houser's "100-hour week" statement broke Monday morning.
- We asked Rockstar for clarification, because his quote was not very clear in the NY Mag article.
- Rockstar sent us that statement on Monday afternoon. We reported it as soon as they did.
- Any other hypothetical pieces I may or may not have in the works about Rockstar's work conditions may or may not be ready yet. But if anyone reading this has experience at Rockstar and wants to talk confidentially about the truth, my email address is [email protected].
- The news of Houser's "100-hour week" statement broke Monday morning.
- We asked Rockstar for clarification, because his quote was not very clear in the NY Mag article.
- Rockstar sent us that statement on Monday afternoon. We reported it as soon as they did.
- Any other hypothetical pieces I may or may not have in the works about Rockstar's work conditions may or may not be ready yet. But if anyone reading this has experience at Rockstar and wants to talk confidentially about the truth, my email address is [email protected].
This shit wouldn't happen if employers had to pay overtime to salaried employees. I can't think of one industry that doesn't take advantage of salaried employees this way.
with no real information at all except the things ive read on these forums, im inclined not to believe the quote in OP. my gut tells me labor conditions at rockstar probably do get quite intense and employees are probably encouraged in very seedy ways to work crazy hours. hes right about the final games reflecting the insane amt of work put in tho
Sure, but why bring up something 10 years ago. That leads to a lot of skepticism and also the employees coming out collaborating that it's true. Are you willing to dismiss their word as not real evidence as well?
The thing is, even if it is the truth, it's still problematic. You're not obligated to work 100 hours a week, but if you don't, you're labeled as not passionate, and not working hard.
i worked on the last level of Space Station Silicon Valley
i am the alpha and the omega
I didn't dig too deep into the last thread. The problem I've seen with shit like this is not only are they busting ass for unhealthy hours, but they're on annual wages and don't make anything for overtime. Did anybody clarify whether or not they even get anything out of working more than 40 hours a week there?
Passionate people need to be saved from themselves.
Their pride is exploited for the company's gain.
No one is forced to do long hours but if the quality and quantity of your work isn't up to an expected level then you'll be replaced with someone who can. So you'll spend extra time trying to make it as good as possible out of fear of missing milestones.
Then that kind of work rate becomes the standard and those hours become expected.
Companies need maximum working hours.
It needs to be a level playing field for veteran developers with families and the young single people who have no responsibilities outside of work.
Their pride is exploited for the company's gain.
No one is forced to do long hours but if the quality and quantity of your work isn't up to an expected level then you'll be replaced with someone who can. So you'll spend extra time trying to make it as good as possible out of fear of missing milestones.
Then that kind of work rate becomes the standard and those hours become expected.
Companies need maximum working hours.
It needs to be a level playing field for veteran developers with families and the young single people who have no responsibilities outside of work.
You're just inferring this ;He never implies this, let alone right out says anything of the sort. He even labels it as "additional effort".
That's how salary works and most companies take advantage of that.
the real question is, did dan write this on a coke fueled stripper adventure.
I remember that management article at rockstar from last year.
Not forced doesn't mean they weren't pressured.
No unions and lax labour laws means that even the most naive employee will feel compelled to tow the company culture on overtime so as not to jeopardize their job
No unions and lax labour laws means that even the most naive employee will feel compelled to tow the company culture on overtime so as not to jeopardize their job
Man, I don't even take work-related calls when I'm off the clock. You want something from me, email me and I'll read it later or call me during billable hours. Fuck insane work culture.
i once had a salary job that only required 42 hours a week.
then the boss, one day in october tried to illegally alter contracts to force everyone to do 55 hour work weeks for the holiday season.
I can't imagine being forcd to work 100 hours
"we have some senior people who work very hard purely because they're passionate"
"No one, senior or junior, is ever forced to work hard."
Sounds clear as fuck to me.
What? He outright says:
"No one, senior or junior, is ever forced to work hard."
Working overtime equals working hard here. The implication is that someone who doesn't is not working hard. What do you think your prospects at the company will be if you are deemed to be "not working hard"? No one wants employees who aren't "working hard".
I'm not sure why you are trying to give the benefit of the doubt to a studio with a well-documented history of insane crunch, either. It's up to them to proof the opposite, to show they've indeed changed.
You guys like to make a thing out of nothing. That isn't the implication.
Oh god I didn't even think of it like that. I wonder if he's similar to Kanye in his political stances as well
Sounds to me like she signed a bad contract and should have read it properly? The person in the tweet that is.
He really, really isn't. He says it or he doesn't. You assuming he says something speaks to you being unwilling to give the benefit of the doubt, which is a detriment on your part.
I'm not entirely sure what you mean by "why bring up something 10 years ago".
There are a few who came out and corroborated the story. They also have thousands of employees. Again, a "spouses of Rockstar employees" speaks volumes. To me, a few disparate accounts, not so much.
They have a long history of doing this and many former employees have talked about mistreatment over the years.
You don't think that's a reasonable interpretation given what we know?
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