The past couple weeks haven't been so hot for Rockstar. Allegations of mismanagement, unethical treatment of employees and deteriorating work conditions have been abound, and the recent letter from the "Rockstar spouses" surely didn't ease studio executives' headaches. The IGDA also voiced its concern over the matter in a recent statement.
Rockstar New York has allegedly responded by sending an internal email to the San Diego employees, attempting to put out the fire, but more or less just saying "the allegations are false." It's unclear whether the letter, posted on Gamasutra, is in fact a legitimate company memo or not. It's also worth pointing out that it was dated Monday, January 11.
"We take issues related to working conditions extremely seriously and will look to address any genuine concerns immediately," it reads.
"We do not agree with the allegations in the Gamasutra post (e.g. there has been no reduction in health benefits or ancillary benefits and perks (such as free dinners and massages etc), wage increases across the studio have kept track with cost of living increases, and anyone who feels they have been overlooked for a bonus for a game they worked on please contact HR to discuss as soon as possible). Nevertheless, we do know that the team is working very hard right now, and we care deeply about the physical health and mental well-being of every single person on our team. We are committed to working through any issues anyone at the studio may have, and to providing support wherever possible."
[...] opinions of a few anonymous posters on message boards as fact." It's a very similar response to the rumored internal memo that addressed the [...]