Oh, dear.....

I've worked in enough similar situations to know that if it wasn't bad enough to quit - it obviously wasn't bad enough to quit.
 
The fact that this "news" is coming out says more to me about a product being developed by people who may not "love it", more than anything. I think you'd find a lot of games are made under these extreme circumstances the only difference is the employees love what they're doing so much that they are will to put that (eh-hem) blood. sweat and tears into it. That's why almost every game that's good enough for me to see the end credits has a "Thanks to the incredibly patient families of" section in them.
 
 If the game turns out bad I'll pass, because it's bad, but I'm not gonna boycott it over some alleged "poor working conditions". 
 
I could be way off base here, but I've (understandably) grown wary of internet news.

" I've worked in enough similar situations to know that if it wasn't bad enough to quit - it obviously wasn't bad enough to quit.   The fact that this "news" is coming out says more to me about a product being developed by people who may not "love it", more than anything. I think you'd find a lot of games are made under these extreme circumstances the only difference is the employees love what they're doing so much that they are will to put that (eh-hem) blood. sweat and tears into it. That's why almost every game that's good enough for me to see the end credits has a "Thanks to the incredibly patient families of" section in them.   If the game turns out bad I'll pass, because it's bad, but I'm not gonna boycott it over some alleged "poor working conditions".   I could be way off base here, but I've (understandably) grown wary of internet news. "

"an organic disaster of the most epic proportions" 
 
oh no..this was my most anticipated game of '10..
 
does this mean the game will suck?

" I've worked in enough similar situations to know that if it wasn't bad enough to quit - it obviously wasn't bad enough to quit.   The fact that this "news" is coming out says more to me about a product being developed by people who may not "love it", more than anything. I think you'd find a lot of games are made under these extreme circumstances the only difference is the employees love what they're doing so much that they are will to put that (eh-hem) blood. sweat and tears into it. That's why almost every game that's good enough for me to see the end credits has a "Thanks to the incredibly patient families of" section in them.   If the game turns out bad I'll pass, because it's bad, but I'm not gonna boycott it over some alleged "poor working conditions".   I could be way off base here, but I've (understandably) grown wary of internet news. "

1 this is going to fail and 2 buying the game is the best way of making them feel like the work is worth it, if no-one buys it the work will have been for nothing

I think boycotting the game would actually make the situation worse for the employees.
 
btw: Did anyone who is considering a boycott of the game also think of working conditions in countries where most of your clothes are stitched together? I suggest you boycott those as well.

It's up to them to decide whether they want to boycott their treatment. Not up to us for not wanting a product they worked too hard on.

"if they've been working on it for 4 years and now need to crunch this hard maybe they should have done better to begin with. "

" @ADTR_ZERO: So you're happy people being forced to work 16 hours a day and 6 days a week with no extra pay to make a damned game? "

I'll definitely be boycotting it. If it sucks.

I'm starting to get the feeling that a few disgruntled people at Rockstar are trying to take down the entire operation.  The latest crazy stuff has some fool at Rockstar ranting about how some people fucked up so badly on Midnight Club LA, it was a fine game overall, it just didn't get good reviews because of the challenge level and the sales were very poor.  Basically all these latest complaints are from business people who want more profits.  It's truly strange, I think some jackass must be trying to make a power play.
 
As long as the game turns out nearly as good as it seems to be so far, I'll be picking it up.

Asking gamers to take a stand and boycott anything is hopeless. Gamers have to be some of the most willing people to blindly let corporations rail them in the ass. Look at the continued success of GameStop.

" I'm starting to get the feeling that a few disgruntled people at Rockstar are trying to take down the entire operation.  The latest crazy stuff has some fool at Rockstar ranting about how some people fucked up so badly on Midnight Club LA, it was a fine game overall, it just didn't get good reviews because of the challenge level and the sales were very poor.  Basically all these latest complaints are from business people who want more profits.  It's truly strange, I think some jackass must be trying to make a power play. As long as the game turns out nearly as good as it seems to be so far, I'll be picking it up. "

This boycott is easy to support.

What you need to understand is that this is the nature of the industry, the workers know this, in order for developers to receive money to develop their games they need to meet deadlines which may not be achievable without these type of hours.  Now since their investors are probably demanding for certain deadlines could be the reason why they are working such harsh hours, but if they don't meet the deadlines they will not be given any more money to develop the game, which is probably why their working such harsh hours, or basicly its "crunch time" for these developers. Now your saying boycott the game, if you want to help these people you want people to buy the game, the more well known these developers become and the success of their product will allow them to have more lenient deadlines that dont demand such harsh working conditions. I understand that your coming from a position that you want to help these guys out, but what your suggesting would only hurt them even more. 

That doesn't make much sense, people don't act as jackasses to make power plays.  I think it's sad that someones personal risk in sharing the inner workings of a business few actually get to see or know is being discounted so quickly.  Similar stories are told throughout the games industry on a reasonably regular basis.
 
The fact of the matter is that we have seen many gaming brands hire and then fire whole teams once a project is over.  They then pass on the fully developed IP to be handled by outsourced development teams who will work for less and never ask for profit share deals.  LucasArts has done this at least 4 times in a completely visible and callous fashion with the most recent round of firings happening post Force Unleashed's release as has EA many times, most recently when they acquired Playfish for webgame centric development.  LucasArts spun these firings as proof that they were fiscally sound and that it was to do with product life cycles.   Rockstar are certainly not EA or LucasArts in size or scope but I frankly wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be true.    I don't think boycotting the game will serve anyone in the long term but there definitely does need to be some oversight in the games industry.  It is a very large business sector and has almost outpaced Hollywood in budget spend and earnings over the last two decades.  This hiring and firing practice must not continue unabated and this will only happen with some regulation put into action.

Im getting this game because it looks fucking sick!  

The IGDA speaks... 

I see where you're coming from morally and I think it's cool you believe what you do, but.....no

Better than being out of a job.

What are ya, some kinda pinko?! If you don't like it, you can move to China!

LOL, that sounds like my job.

ZOMG!  There were delays on a game?  And issues with the development?!  WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?! 
 
Seriously...EA does this same shit on so many games.  Sega does it.  Activision DEFINITELY does it.  It's not like this is anything new.  Why is it that, all of a sudden, Rockstar San Diego is so special? 
 
And FUCK ANYONE who wants to talk shit about Midnight Club: L.A.  That game is GREAT!!!

That is such a joke.. 
 
There is no doubt the devs got paid well for the hard work and overtime they put in. Surely the rumors of mismanagement are accurate by how long the game has been in development.. but the claims from the pissed off housewife you gotta admit are pretty laughable.

I suggest a buy-cott instead!

boycott and the studio makes a loss, leading to those people being sacked. that seems the less ethical thing to do.

I'm not boycotting it... Enough with the damn boycotting already. 
 
@Toxic said:

" What is the use of boycotting their game that they have been working so hard on only to make it sell worse and make them look worse. "

lol, boycott.
 
People thinking they can rally up a posse and change the world always makes me laugh.

Not buying this game isn't going to hurt Rockstar, they can take the hit and still operate. What will happen is boycotting this game will cause all of these people that you care so much about to lose their jobs. This issue needs to be settled by the employees, not by consumers.

Shit, in my industry those hours are normal. Geeky game devs: drink some coffee and shut the fuck up. I lift heavy ass film equipment 12-16 hours a day.  
 
Also I'm totally not boycotting what looks like the best western themed game ever. God if they got that juicy-ass Rockstar dialogue it'll be great. They got some good writers on the team, this could look like some Deadwood style stuff right here.

It might be a more judicious use of time for these aggrieved workers to find an attorney. If the Rockstar's business practices violate labor laws, they will win. That's what the previously mentioned EA workers did, and "working conditions at Rockstar San Diego are considerably worse" from what  hear...
 

"EA Spouse is the name commonly used to refer to a blog post originally made on November 11, 2004 to LiveJournal. It sharply criticized the labor practices of Electronic Arts. The term may also refer to the author of the blog, who was initially anonymous. In 2006, Erin Hoffman — then fiancee of Leander Hasty, employed at the time by EA — was revealed to be behind the blog. Leander Hasty was the main plaintiff in the successful class action suit on behalf of software engineers at EA, which awarded the plaintiffs USD$14.9 million for unpaid overtime. -- Link to cite.

Nobody is forced to do shit.
 
Unless they whip 'em with a whip and hold their families hostage - that's what they want to do.
 
And no - I don't care if childlabor built my sneakers. I don't care if Red Dead : Redemption has ben built under the worst conditions.
 
I've worked as a cook in a 5 star hotel under a 2 star chef - I've seen worse for much less.
 
Unless you want to go to war over something like this and topple the global capitalistic society, you're shit of luck.

"

The IGDA speaks... 

http://kotaku.com/5448512/igda-condemns-alleged-rockstar-work-conditions-as-exploitative-harmful     "

That game is going to be fucking sweet. Red Dead Revolver was one of my fav PS2 games. There is no way I am boycotting it.

Wasn't interested in this game till I read what you wrote, now I'm getting it day one. Seems like the opposite of an half-assed, rushed game, so I can't miss this.

Yes everyone let´s not not get this game so all those peoples hard work is wasted. It sucks that this happened but wouldn´t you feel bad if you worked 15 hour days on a game and no one bought it? The word is out there, and boycot the game will also hurt the developers.

Never played a red dead game before, thats why im not buying it.

How anyone could think boycotting this game would make things better for these guys is madness.
Dev: "Phew glad that's over"
Boss: "No one is buying the game, so not only was it stressful and a strain on your family you don't get any more money all thanks to a guy at Giantbomb"
Dev: "Thanks guy at Giantbomb"

How about instead of boycotting we adverstise the game to friends/websites so more people can se how awesome this game is?

nope!