GTA 6 Developers Criticise Rockstar’s ‘Reckless’ Decision to Force Staff Back to the Office

The solo dev behind the indie poker roguelike Balatro is disappointed over how games with "actual gambling mechanics" are given age ratings, after seeing their own game's rating skyrocket due to gambling-related concerns. This came despite the fact that Balatro doesn't actually feature gambling, and the developer is strictly against it. 

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Genshin Impact and Discovery Channel have announced the Teyvat Nature Discovery Tour, a joint initiative seeking to raise awareness about a number of fragile natural habitats. The collaboration comprises a Genshin Impact online event, an offline benefit sale, and a mini-documentary voiced by Game of Thrones star Kit Harington and several other celebrities.

The console wars are a tale as old as time—or at least as old as the point when games consoles from multiple companies came onto the market. Whether Sega claimed to do what Nintendon't or actual customers determined to justify why their console of choice was objectively the best, this war continues to rage on to this day. However, even as far back as the 90s, it wasn't an ideology that Nintendo wanted to promote.

In some very exciting news, Apple's new mixed reality headset, Vision Pro was used to perform surgery at the Cromwell Hospital in the UK. The doctor utilized the VR headset to provide navigation throughout the spine surgery of a male patient. The Apple Vision Pro headset helped to adhere to the right surgical process and use the perfect tools for the job to perform the surgery successfully. However, note that the doctor was not wearing the Apple Vision Pro but the theatre nurse who was providing instructions. Know more about the surgery with an Apple Vision Pro headset.

PlayStation-backed game studio, Deviation Games, has closed.

The many regions that players have visited throughout the Pokemon games all draw inspiration from real-world locations, inspiring one fan from Amsterdam to imagine what a counterpart to their home city would look like in the world of Pokemon. Their absolutely amazing pixel art project not only captures a similar vibe to that associated with the older Pokemon games, but also does a great job of showcasing what a Netherlands-inspired region might look like in the games' world.

This is a quiet week on TV, especially compared to the bonanza in theaters that is Dune: Part Twoor the ongoing fervor around Helldivers 2 (shoutout to those servers).

A newly emerged job listing from Rockstar may have helped narrow down the Grand Theft Auto 6 release window, suggesting that the highly anticipated game could hit the market as early as Q2 2025. But even if Rockstar is indeed targeting that time frame, Grand Theft Auto 6 still has a chance to slip into the second half of 2025.

Rockstar Games has historically had significant issues with crunch culture and excessive overtime over the years, and though, in the wake of Red Dead Redemption 2’s arduous development cycle, the company has taken measures to ensure that development of future projects (including the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6) can be done in much more healthy and sustainable fashion, following some recent workplace policy changes, it seems some employees are fearing that Rockstar could return to its former tendencies.

Rockstar Games is in hot water as discontent brews among its development team and the wider gaming community due to the company's decision to mandate full-time, in-office work for all staff starting in April. The controversial move is tied to the final stages of the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6) development, with Rockstar asserting that the in-person collaboration is vital for ensuring the game's quality and security.

Developers at GTA 6 studio Rockstar Games have criticised the company for telling employees they must return to the office full-time next month, calling leadership's decision «reckless».