Keen-eyed job hunters in the games industry have noticed a brand-new job listing on the Rockstar Games company website. The award-winning studio responsible for beloved series such as Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption are currently seeking to add a Professional Developer Walker to their roster!
“Rockstar Games has been listening to criticisms from its employees and fans about our ‘crunch culture’,” Rockstar spokesperson Mike Schaefer said of the listing. “Our newest effort to ensure a healthy work environment is to schedule a daily 30-minute break that will allow our developers to be walked around outside for some fresh air. We want our employees to burn through all their pent-up energy and return to their desks focused and ready to work for another eight hours.”
The full job listing on Rockstar’s career page further expounds upon the duties of this new position.
“It is the duty of the Developer Walker to take groups of employees to the park at a walking or light-jog pace, let them run around in a fenced-in enclosure, maybe toss a frisbee around if they’ve been good, and return developers back to their desk in a timely fashion.”
Schaefer emphasized that while Rockstar is committed to fostering wellness for its developers, the program would not slow down production or delay game releases.
“Because this new initiative is so unproductive, breaks will be staggered so that only 15 employees are on break at any given time during the day. Additionally, the 30 minutes spent on break will be added to the end of their shifts to keep productivity at the consistent level we’ve come to expect here at Rockstar.”
Hats off to Rockstar for prioritizing developer wellness! Great job, Rockstar! Let’s hope this means that they’re gearing up to announce a release date for Grand Theft Auto VI real soon!
Check out the newest episode of the Hard Drive podcast where we watch and discuss every episode of 1989’s The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!