Rockstar faces new crunch claims amid GTA 6 development

As Rockstar Games enters the final stages of development on GTA 6, an unverified Glassdoor review has suggested that the studio may be entering an intense crunch period.

One review attributed to a worker based in Bangalore, India alleges that Rockstar is placing heavy demands on employees, including unpaid overtime, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.

The review claims some staff were required to work from morning until around 3 a.m. in order to complete tasks that would normally take five to six months, condensed into just two to three months instead.

“The schedule has been hectic since last month,” the review states, adding that raising concerns with the head of department is “useless.”

Insider Reece Reilly, also known as Kiwi Talkz, responded to the claims by saying: “What you call crunch is just normal day-to-day work in India, so 100% yes.”

He added: “India isn’t known for work-life balance, I spend a lot of time there due to family and friends and I know how crazy they work.”

However, the comments were met with skepticism from some users, who pointed out that other reviews have praised work-life balance. In response, Kiwi Talkz said he frequently visits India and knows people at Rockstar’s Bangalore studio, adding: “Btw work/life balance by Indian standards is still sh*t by western standards.”

The Glassdoor post is not the only recent mention of crunch at Rockstar. An Indeed review from March, reportedly from a worker in New York, also described a “crunch micromanaging culture,” although it noted working hours of around 9–10 hours per day rather than extreme late-night shifts. It remains unclear whether the department mentioned is directly connected to GTA 6 development.

By contrast, Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier previously reported that GTA 6 development involved significantly less crunch compared to earlier Rockstar projects. He said: “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.”

Overall, the situation remains unverified, and the claims rely largely on anonymous reviews. Rockstar Games has not commented publicly on the specific allegations, and there is no confirmed evidence of current working conditions beyond the reported accounts.

As with all such claims, the information should be treated with caution, as online reviews alone do not provide definitive proof. The broader debate over game development deadlines and employee workload continues, particularly for large-scale releases like GTA 6, where expectations and pressure are exceptionally high.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev