14 DAY TRIAL // Rockstar San Diego was quite recently accused of running a slave-ship, pushing its employees to the breaking point in order to meet its deadlines. The rumor was started after a user that preferred remaining anonymous and named itself only "Rockstar Spouse" posted a letter on the Gamasutra blog section.
Claiming to be the wife of a Rockstar San Diego employee, she said that, "The working conditions persist to deteriorate as employees are manipulated by certain hands that wield the reigns of power in Rockstar San Diego." That was almost two weeks ago, and while the developer made a somewhat official stance on the subject, via a leaked internal e-mail, Rockstar SD never spoke directly to the public.
But that changed yesterday, and where the threat of legal actions made by "Rockstar Spouse" failed to convince it to issue a statement, it looks like Tweeter messages succeed. Responding to messages directed at the company via Tweeter, it replied in a mailbag feature on its website that, first of all, Red Dead Redemption would not suffer any delays, and it would be launched as scheduled. Secondly, it also addressed the "Spouse" accusations.
"As for the stories spreading around the internet, yes we have noticed them. Unfortunately, this is a case of people taking the opinions of a few anonymous posters on message boards as fact," the message said. "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." In other words, the people that have backed the rumors of the brutal working conditions, confirming that they used to work for RSD but left when they simply couldn't take the stress anymore, did so because of their own personality quirks and temperaments. Or at least, that's what Rockstar claims.
The message further stated that, "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[s] in the industry and support them in every way we can."
Now, both sides have made their story clear, but to no surprise the truth is still something that eludes us. At the moment, everything is still in the stage of "he said, she said," but clarification could be made in the next combat turn. If "Rockstar Spouse" stays true to her allegations and pursues legal action against the company, then the truth might begin to surface. On the other hand however, if she does not, we learn nothing, as this won't be a confirmation or a denial of the situation.