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Rockstar Games

OVERALL

Owned
USA
Rating
Criticisms

Video games

Best known for developing the Grand Theft Auto game series, with GTA V being one of the most successful entertainment products of all time.

Company Ownership

Rockstar Games Inc   USA     website      facebook   twitter
  Take-Two Interactive Software Inc   
   owns 100% of Rockstar Games Inc  
USA     website         twitter

Video games

Video game holding company that owns two major publishing labels, Rockstar Games and 2K. One of the world's largest video game companies.

> About the Ratings

Company Assessment

PRAISE CRITICISM INFORMATION
Rockstar Games Inc
Business Ethics Tax avoidance
Grand Theft Auto V is the most commercially successful product in the history of the entertainment industry, generating over $5bn in revenue. Despite this, the British makers of the game have paid nothing in corporation tax and received £42m in relief.
Source: TaxWatch UK (2019)
Social Crunch culture
In 2018 Kotaku interviewed with 34 current and 43 former Rockstar Games employees while investigating the work culture during the final year of development on Red Dead Redemption 2. Employees gave mixed reviews. Most said they felt compelled to work long hours (60-80 hours per week), sometimes for no extra pay. As one former employee put it, "If you're really passionate about the game and working there, and want to prioritise that over your life, it's a really great place to work. But if you want to prioritise your life, it's not."
Source: Kotaku (2018)
Social Underpaying employees
In 2009, Rockstar Games settled out of court with with "over 100" Rockstar San Diego employees to the tune of $2.75 million (approximately $27,500 per person). The case was brought by ex-Rockstar employees who allege that Rockstar San Diego had "failed to pay overtime compensation ... to certain Angel employees whose primary duties are or were to create, produce, copy and/or install images into video games, using commercial or in-house software computer programs."
Source: news article (2010)
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc
Business Ethics CEO Pay Ratio of 256:1
In 2019 the median pay for a worker at this company was US$67,714. The CEO was paid 256 times this amount. Exorbitant CEO pay is a major contributor to rising inequality. CEOs are getting more because of their power to set pay, not because they are increasing productivity or possess specific, high-demand skills. The economy would suffer no harm if CEOs were paid less (or taxed more). In contrast, the CEO-to-typical-worker compensation ratio was 20-to-1 in 1965 and 58-to-1 in 1989.
Source: AFL-CIO (2020)
Business Ethics 46.1/125 at JUST Capital
JUST Capital polls Americans every year to identify the issues that matter most in defining just business behaviour. For their 2023 rankings JUST Capital asked a representative sample of 3,002 Americans to compare 20 different business Issues on a head-to-head basis, producing a reliable hierarchy of Issues ranked in order of priority. Issues are organised under the headings Workers, Customers, Communities, the Environment, or Shareholders & Governance. JUST Capital then define metrics that map to those issues and track and analyse the largest, publicly traded U.S. companies. This analysis powers their rankings, in which this company ranked 581st of 951 companies, and 9th of 18 Household & Leisure Goods companies.
Source: JUST Capital (2023)
Business Ethics 20/100 S&P Global ESG Score
This company received an S&P Global ESG Score of 20/100 in the Interactive Media Services & Home Entertainment category of the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment, an annual evaluation of companies' sustainability practices (last updated 23 Sep 2022). The rankings are based on an analysis of corporate economic, environmental and social performance, assessing issues such as corporate governance, risk management, environmental reporting, climate strategy, human rights and labour practices.
Source: S&P Global (2022)
Business Ethics Fined US$3m for accounting fraud
In 2009 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that this company agreed to pay US$3 million to settle charges of accounting fraud.
Source: SEC (2009)
Business Ethics Fined US$7.5m for accounting fraud
In 2005 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced that this company agreed to pay US$7.5 million to settle charges of accounting fraud.
Source: SEC (2005)
Business Ethics Charitable giving
Take-Two has assisted numerous programs over the years. Follow the link for a list of some of the many programs, organizations and causes to which Take-Two has donated.
Source: company website (2020)

> About the Icons

Company Details

Type Wholly-owned subsidiary

Contact Details

Address New York, New York, USA
Website rockstargames.com

Products / Brands

Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto Action-Adventure Games
Grand Theft Auto Online Multiplayer Games
Red Dead Action-Adventure Games


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