Rockstar India Employees Allege Unpaid Overtime and Crunch Ahead of GTA 6 Launch
- Sagar Mankar
- 4 minutes ago
- 2 min read
A Glassdoor review from a reported Rockstar Games employee in Bengaluru has raised fresh concerns about working conditions at the studio as Grand Theft Auto VI approaches its release date.
The post, dated May 1, was written by someone identifying themselves as a QA analyst at Rockstar's Bengaluru office. They described their role as testing what they called "the world's most anticipated game," a description that most people online immediately linked to GTA 6.
According to the post, the employee claimed that the team is being asked to complete tasks that would normally take five to six months in just two to three months.
The reviewer also said that overtime has become increasingly common since the previous month, with some colleagues allegedly working until 3 AM after already completing their regular morning shifts.
The mental toll was not left out either. The employee mentioned that the past few weeks had been difficult for their mental health. In a direct message to management, they wrote, "Please be lenient on us; we are human too."
The employee gave the company a 2-star rating and noted that while they had enjoyed working there previously, things had noticeably changed.
So why is all of this happening now? The timing lines up with GTA 6's confirmed release window. Rockstar has officially set November 19, 2026, as the launch date for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. That makes this current period one of the most critical stretches of production for the studio. A recent comment from Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has also indicated that marketing for GTA 6 would begin soon, which signals the company is fully committed to hitting that date.
QA teams are especially important during this stage of development. They are the ones finding bugs, stress-testing systems, and making sure a game of this size actually holds together before it ships. When a QA employee speaks out about compressed timelines and overnight work sessions, it carries weight, because these are the people doing the final heavy lifting.
This is not the first time Rockstar has found itself in this conversation. During the Red Dead Redemption 2 development cycle, the studio faced significant criticism over its work culture. According to reports from that time, some QA testers worked as many as 100 hours a week in certain cases, sometimes without additional pay. Rockstar acknowledged overtime at the time but maintained that it was voluntary. Following the public backlash, the company announced internal changes and stated efforts to improve work-life balance.
Insider source Kiwi Talkz has also confirmed that pressure is currently being felt at the India studio, which is reported to house the largest number of Rockstar employees across any single location.
