The former developer of Rockstar Games spoke about the toxic and desperate atmosphere that reigned in the studio while working on GTA 5.
Jonathan Gwin, who was a senior environmental artist at Rockstar Games, told a story about a depressing and toxic culture on the team in an interview.
Gwyn worked on GTA 5 from 2011 to 2012. It was the negative situation that characterized him in which, according to the developer, he found himself, not only management, but also the opinion of his -jobs. The management of the company, despite the success of video games before, was aggressive and did not strive for changes and improvements. But the worst part was the depression among the rank and file.
“I wasn’t so much bothered by the company itself as by the opinion of the people around me; they complained so much and were so negative about everything, and after a while you realize that you can’t spend eight or ten hours a day, five days a week, with people who don’t like on what they do.
A lot of people stayed after a big disagreement about overtime and Rockstar wives and all that stuff, so I ended up getting the job I was talking about at Qualcomm and I went there. They weren’t happy when I left, but you know, you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”
It is possible, in the more than 10 years since he met Gwyn, that things have changed to the benefit of workers and gamers who are waiting for the next chapter in the series.
