Summary

  • Journalist Jason Schreier, who initially reported on Rockstar's crunch culture, now says that it has massively improved.
  • He says that GTA 6's delay appears to be a sign that management is serious about avoiding crunch conditions.
  • Previously, Rockstar came under fire after employees claimed to work as much as 80 hours a week to ship Red Dead Redemption 2.

In the 2010s, there was renewed interest in the working conditions at some major studios. While this had been an issue for years prior, developers started coming forward with stories of excessive, often unpaid overtime, referred to as crunch. As it happened, many of our favourite games were only hitting their release dates because of this practice, with little regard for the health of the developers bringing us these titles.

Rockstar was among the largest companies to be called out for its crunch practices. In 2018, journalist Jason Scheier spoke to a range of Rockstar employees, who said that they worked as many as 80 hours a week to ship Red Dead Redemption 2. This was said to have led to "damaged relationships, mental breakdowns, and heavy drinking at work" among some workers, making it clear that there is a very real human impact when a developer has to work these hours.

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Now, it appears that Rockstar has improved its working conditions for Grand Theft Auto 6. Speaking on BlueSky, Schreier says that sources now tell him that the difference has been "night and day" from previous games, suggesting there was a cultural shift at the studio after the 2018 report dropped.

Working On GTA 6 Has Apparently Been Much Better Than Working On Red Dead Redemption 2

Skepticism is always healthy, but I've been keeping tabs on this for years (since my big 2018 story about Red Dead 2's crunch). They certainly haven't eliminated *all* overtime but everyone I've talked to at Rockstar says it's night and day from previous projects. If that changes, I'll report on it. — Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier.bsky.social) 2025-05-02T15:33:59.086Z

This was in response to the news that GTA 6 is being hit with a delay, now launching on May 26, 2026. Here, Schreier said that there appears to be a "real desire from management to avoid brutal crunch".

Someone in the replies doubted this, prompting a follow-up from Schreier: "I've been keeping tabs on this for years (since my big 2018 story about Red Dead 2's crunch). They certainly haven't eliminated *all* overtime but everyone I've talked to at Rockstar says it's night and day from previous projects. If that changes, I'll report on it. [sic]".

Schreier's comments about workers at Rockstar long believing that the original Fall 2025 release date was unworkable have been corroborated by our own sources, so it doesn't seem that anyone internally is surprised by this move. At the very least, we have a firm release date now (assuming this isn't pushed back too), and hopefully, devs won't have to crunch as they have done in the past.

Grand Theft Auto 6 Like Follow Followed Action Adventure Systems OpenCritic Reviews Released November 19, 2026 ESRB Rating Pending - Likely Mature 17+ Developer(s) Rockstar Games Publisher(s) Rockstar Games 8 Images Close
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