Morale is one of those “unspoken of” things that only gets discussed when things are either really good or really bad. Think about it. If a team is doing “fine,” then there really isn’t any need to talk about morale. If one person is “bringing the group down,” morale isn’t really discussed because “it’s just that guy bringing us down,” and on and on the cycle goes. In the gaming industry, morale is something that should be discussed more, as it affects a lot of people from the top down, and you can see this with Rockstar Games right now, as the recent delay they had, mixed with the layoffs and accusations against them, has to be taking a toll on the team’s morale.
If you don’t believe us, then you need to look at this post below. It was posted on the GTAForums by someone claiming to be at Rockstar Games right now, and they were “verified” by the mods themselves.
One of the key parts of the post was them talking about the firings that happened at the UK and Canada branches recently, and how it was a clear attempt to break up the union that was happening within the UK branch. Then, they noted this:
“Those of us who are lucky and remain for now work in fear. Fearful when talking to each other at the tea prep, fearful that we’re next in line and are easily got rid of, too scared to go outside the studio and talk to (or even acknowledge) our colleagues outside protesting in fear of reprisals. Morale in the studio is at rock bottom. When we should be excited about what’s to come over the next year we are now totally deflated and our trust and confidence in others is totally shot.”
That’s not a great way to live, and yet, you can totally understand that fear, because it’s something that’s happened not only in the gaming industry, but in numerous other industries in modern times and beyond. It’s almost become commonplace for “those at the top” to try to punish “those at the bottom” who “complain” or attempt to get things made better through things like unions.
And those protests they mentioned were real, and they might continue as the fired workers fight for their rights.
Sadly, this is a lesson for all of us that while the gaming industry might seem like a “truly wonderful place to work,” it has just as many problems as other work industries.
