As GTA 6 enters final development stretch, Rockstar is bringing its developers back to the office 5 days a week for "security" and "productivity"

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Rockstar says returning to office will give GTA 6 "the level of quality and polish we know it requires"

GTA 6
(Image credit: Rockstar)

Rockstar is asking developers working on GTA 6 to return to office five days a week as the long awaited sequel enters its final stretch of development.

Per an email from Rockstar Head of Publishing Jenn Kolbe, obtained by Bloomberg, Rockstar's plan is for GTA 6 developers to return to the office starting in April for "productivity" and "security" reasons. The latter is almost certainly at least partly in response to the massive GTA 6 leak from September 2022 that prematurely brought more than 90 videos and images online, cost Rockstar $5 million and thousands of hours of staff time, and resulted in the lifetime confinement of the hacker in a secure hospital. More recently, the GTA 6 trailer also leaked a day ahead of its official December reveal.

As for productivity, Kolbe said in the email that Rockstar had found "tangible benefits" from in-office work. "Making these changes now puts us in the best position to deliver the next Grand Theft Auto at the level of quality and polish we know it requires, along with a publishing roadmap that matches the scale and ambition of the game," she said.

Bloomberg's Jason Schreier, who broke the story, reports "employees are not thrilled" with Rockstar's decision.

GTA 6 was officially announced in November, with a 2025 release window on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The sequel will take players back to the sun-soaked streets of Vice City, with Rockstar teasing it'll "push the limits of what's possible" in open-world games.

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.