Rockstar Games has issued a return to office mandate as the development of GTA 6 ramps up. The move will see employees, many of which previously worked from home, return to the office for five days a week again. Rockstar Games says this was done due to security concerns following the massive GTA 6 leak which happened back in 2022.
As reported by Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, Rockstar’s head of publishing Jenn Kolbe said, “making these changes now puts us in the best position to deliver the next Grand Theft Auto at the level of quality and polish we know it requires, along with a publishing roadmap that matches the scale and ambition of the game.”
Schreier says many employees at Rockstar Games are not thrilled about the idea, especially considering that several developers and publishers still embrace remote or hybrid work (and to mostly satisfactory results). However, the company says this is the final stretch in the development of GTA 6 as it slowly creeps towards its unspecified 2025 release window.
NEW: Rockstar Games is asking all of its employees to return to the office five days a week starting in April for security and productivity reasons as they enter the final stretch of development on Grand Theft Auto VI. (Employees are not thrilled.) https://t.co/GWniqzHA8H
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) February 28, 2024
Rockstar Games and publisher Take-Two Interactive officially revealed Grand Theft Auto 6 last December, with its debut trailer climbing to become the second most-watched video game trailer of all time on YouTube. Unfortunately, the game will only launch on consoles first next year as the PC version requires a bit more time to be polished.
GTA 6 will return to the Miami-inspired location of Vice City and features two protagonists, a female named Lucia and an unknown male which is believed to be named Jason. Largely inspired by the real-life Bonnie and Clyde criminal duo, the story seems to focus on the couple’s struggling relationship as they resort to crime while seeking a better life. Lucia marks the first female protagonist in GTA‘s history since the first game in the franchise.
GTA 6 is scheduled to launch in 2025 for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Bloomberg
