Rockstar orders staff back to the office five days a week, Bloomberg reports
Bloomberg reported that Rockstar told staff to work from the office five days a week from April 2024, citing productivity and security.
Published on Leonidle , after the event.
Rockstar Games is ending hybrid work and wants its employees in the office five days a week from April, according to an internal email from head of publishing Jenn Kolbe. Bloomberg reported the email on February 28, as relayed by VGC and Kotaku. Rockstar did not comment publicly at the time.
Why Rockstar says it is doing this
As quoted by VGC, the email gives two reasons, productivity and security, and says working together in person has brought "tangible benefits." Kolbe also wrote that the change puts the studio "in the best position to deliver the next Grand Theft Auto." Security has been a sore point for Rockstar since the September 2022 breach.
There is no direct effect on players. As both outlets report it, the email frames the move around giving the game the quality and polish Rockstar wants.
How staff responded
The IWGB, a union that represents game workers in the UK, objected. Its chair, Austin Kelmore, told IGN that managers would "pull the plug" on remote access on April 15, Kotaku reported. One employee quoted in the same piece described working from home as "a lifeline for many of us."
In March, Rockstar staff told Aftermath they feared a slide back into crunch, and that experienced developers might leave rather than return. Days later, Kotaku linked the office push to schedule worries.
Later
In October 2026, Kotaku wrote that Kolbe did not expect hybrid work to return soon, and quoted her on security: "I think if we did not have a game that people wanted to steal as much, maybe it would be an easier conversation." Kotaku did not say where her remarks came from, and they do not confirm the details of the 2024 email, so this stays a report.