Rockstar denies San Diego accusations
Blames them on anonymous ex-employees.
Rockstar has finally responded to accusations about working conditions at its San Diego studio, which is producing Red Dead Redemption.
Having first reconfirmed that the game will ship for PS3 and Xbox 360 on 30th April in Europe, the studio replied to inquiries in a Q&A on its official website.
"Unfortunately, this is a case of people taking the opinions of a few anonymous posters on message boards as fact," the publisher protested.
"No business is ever perfect, but Rockstar Games is a tight knit team made up of around 900 supremely talented and motivated professionals, many of whom have worked here for a very long time.
We're saddened if any former members of any studio did not find their time here enjoyable or creatively fulfilling and wish them well with finding an environment more suitable to their temperaments and needs, but the vast majority of our company are focused solely on delivering cutting edge interactive entertainment.
"We've always cared passionately about the people working here, and have always tried to maintain a supportive creative environment. There is simply no way Rockstar could continue to produce such large scale, high quality games without this.
"That being said, making great games is very challenging, which is why we have and will continue to try to keep hold of some of the best talent in the industry and support them in every way we can."
Earlier this month a blogger on Gamasutra, posting under the pseudonym "Rockstar Spouse", alleged that conditions at the San Diego studio had been in decline for nearly a year, and that crunch time was enforced while overtime and holidays had been cut.
The post was supported by a number of other anonymous contributors claiming to work at or have worked at the studio.
Until now, Rockstar's only reaction had been to post a wallpaper image referencing the Eye of Sauron - apparently a reaction to one of the accusations that the San Diego team was often overruled by directives from Rockstar management in New York.