Zelnick says he's not worried about the union-busting stuff hurting GTA 6 sales
Caught this on Eurogamer earlier. Strauss Zelnick was asked about the whole Rockstar employment tribunal situation and whether it might put a dent in GTA 6's launch. His response? "Not in the least."
For those out of the loop, there's been a lot of noise around Rockstar's alleged union-busting tactics and how they treat QA workers. It's been bubbling for a while, and some folks have been wondering if the bad press could actually make people think twice about buying the game. Zelnick clearly doesn't think so.
I mean, he's probably right. GTA 6 could launch with a literal dumpster fire on the cover and it'd still break every record. The hype is that massive. But it still feels a little tone-deaf to just brush it off like that. The guy runs the company, of course he's going to say it's fine. What else is he supposed to say? "Yeah, we're terrified our labor practices might cost us a few million sales"? Not happening.
Still, it's one of those things where the disconnect between the boardroom and the rest of us is pretty stark. Most fans I talk to are just counting down the days until November 19th. Nobody's cancelling their pre-order over this. But that doesn't mean the criticism isn't valid. Rockstar's crunch culture has been a talking point for years, and this employment tribunal stuff just adds to it.
Zelnick's confidence probably comes from the numbers. Pre-orders are already through the roof, and the extended look later this month is going to send the hype into orbit. When you've got a game that's basically a cultural event, a little bad press isn't going to move the needle. Sucks for the workers though.
Source: Eurogamer · Curated content.