Rockstar Games Employees Jumping from a Sinking Ship?

Rockstar Games and its parent company Take-Two Interactive are taking turns getting the heat from the Federal Trade Commission, Roger Hill, the New York County District Attorney, and the unhappy investors club. In light of the “Hot Coffee” scandal, grand jury subpoenas, Rockstar Vienna and Indie Built closure, and a stock free-fall, Rockstar Games employees are quickly jumping ship. Though this is not an unusual occurrence, especially when the videogame industry is in a difficult console transition stage, it becomes apparent that Rockstar employees just had enough of the controversies surrounding Rockstar Games. Of course, one might argue that the employee exodus may just be an effect of a massive cost-cutting measures by Take-Two. Who’s buying that? Apparently, Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities does:

Whether or not there is really an employee exodus is hard to say since we’re not privy to everything that goes on at the company. It could be viewed as employees jumping off a “sinking ship,” but it’s also possible that much of this stems from cost cutting measures in a tough year.

“Part of this is actually good, because if it shows you that they’re getting more financial discipline by eliminating redundant positions… To me marketing should be more central and not pushed out to the individual studio. You want an overall marketing strategy to brand all Rockstar product… so maybe this is just better discipline.

Over the past six to 12 months, 10 people have left Rockstar: VP of Development, (2) Director of Marketing, Director of Development, Director of PR, Sr. PR Manager, Sr. Product Mgr, Sr. Web Designer, PR Manager, and PR.

What does this tell us? There may be some internal discord within Rockstar that are kept hidden in the public eye. But as GameDaily Biz puts it, “is it merely a coincidence that these people have left when there’s been so much turmoil at Rockstar and Take-Two? Certainly, when Jamie King (a Rockstar co-founder), two different directors of marketing, and others all leave within the same period that the parent company’s stock is in a freefall, it smells fishy.”

Rockstar Games and its parent company Take-Two Interactive are taking turns getting the heat from the Federal Trade Commission, Roger Hill, the New York County District Attorney, and the unhappy investors club. In light of the “Hot Coffee” scandal, grand jury subpoenas, Rockstar Vienna and Indie Built closure, and a stock free-fall, Rockstar Games employees are quickly jumping ship. Though this is not an unusual occurrence, especially when the videogame industry is in a difficult console transition stage, it becomes apparent that Rockstar employees just had enough of the controversies surrounding Rockstar Games. Of course, one might argue that the employee exodus may just be an effect of a massive cost-cutting measures by Take-Two. Who’s buying that? Apparently, Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan Securities does:

Whether or not there is really an employee exodus is hard to say since we’re not privy to everything that goes on at the company. It could be viewed as employees jumping off a “sinking ship,” but it’s also possible that much of this stems from cost cutting measures in a tough year.

“Part of this is actually good, because if it shows you that they’re getting more financial discipline by eliminating redundant positions… To me marketing should be more central and not pushed out to the individual studio. You want an overall marketing strategy to brand all Rockstar product… so maybe this is just better discipline.

Over the past six to 12 months, 10 people have left Rockstar: VP of Development, (2) Director of Marketing, Director of Development, Director of PR, Sr. PR Manager, Sr. Product Mgr, Sr. Web Designer, PR Manager, and PR.

What does this tell us? There may be some internal discord within Rockstar that are kept hidden in the public eye. But as GameDaily Biz puts it, “is it merely a coincidence that these people have left when there’s been so much turmoil at Rockstar and Take-Two? Certainly, when Jamie King (a Rockstar co-founder), two different directors of marketing, and others all leave within the same period that the parent company’s stock is in a freefall, it smells fishy.”