Rockstar Games’ co-founder and former lead creative director Dan Houser been asked about working in the video games industry following his previous company’s alleged union busting. This is the first time the situation has been discussed by someone who has been at the top of Rockstar.
As part of the press tour for this first ever book, A Better Paradise, Houser took part in an interview with BBC Radio 4. The writer revealed things such as why he left Rockstar and the next game he is working on.
The during the interview, host Kate Molleson brought up the alleged union busting by Rockstar and the protests outside of Rockstar North. She did preface her question by acknowledging Dan has not worked at Rockstar for over 5 years but still wanted his opinion given his new book and game is about the development of a game and a company. Dan told her the company in his new book “cut corners” and “sacrifice lots of their values”
Molleson said to Houser “Interesting that you say bring up the sacrificing of values there, you’ll know there have been protests outside the offices of Rockstar North here in Edinburgh in recent weeks.” She continued by saying “Rockstar have been accused sacking a number of staff to stop them from unionising which Rockstar denies.”
Asking The Real Questions
The host asked Dan “do you think the games industry is a good industry to work in at the moment?” His full response can be found below:
Fundamentally, yes, that’s why I work in it and encourage other people to work in it. No industry is ever perfect. But my experience in the games industry has been its fundamentally a … all companies are different but fundamentally a positive and supporting environment for most people most of the time but nowhere is perfect.”
Given Dan’s brother, Sam, is still president of Rockstar Games and Dan was part of the company when the culture was considered bad, it is no surprise he did not want to share too much on the topic.
This comes after more political figures are looking to take action against Rockstar Games. We reported on how a member of the City of Edinburgh council has tabled a motion in support of the affected workers and is requesting answers from Rockstar. Learn more here.
What do you think of the situation? Let us know down in the comments below.
In other Rockstar Games and Edinburgh news, the company are sponsoring a yearly triathlon event once again. Learn more about it here. Be sure to stay tuned to RockstarINTEL for all the latest news on Rockstar Games and GTA VI.
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