Rockstar seemingly responds to 'Eye of Sauron' comment with rad, rude wallpaper

by Xav de Matos on Jan 16th 2010 4:30PM

In a surprisingly lighthearted move, Rockstar appears to have responded to recent accusations of overwork (among many other things) with a series of wallpaper designs on its official site. The designs are presumably a comment based on statements made to the MTV Multiplayer Blog from a former Rockstar New York employee who compared the company management's wandering focus to that of the vengeful "Eye of Sauron" -- the fictional all-seeing evil in the Lord of the Rings franchise.

The trio of wallpaper designs -- which are not-so-subtly titled, "The Eye" -- may very well mark the first time that Rockstar has responded to claims of mismanagement and overworking its employees. While the wallpaper is certainly stylish enough for our computer backdrop, we can't help but think poking fun at reports that the company has treated its workers like robots is a little classless. Also, we have to wonder how many overtime hours were used to create these totally radical designs.

Source

Tags: controversy, lulz-at-overworked-people, rockstar, rockstar-new-york, rockstar-spouse, wallpaper

Reader Comments (78)

that picture reminds me of that Tool level on Guitar Hero World Tour

Wow, they are mocking their own employees, fuckin' awesome! they got some brass balls to make fun of their comments like that!

Sounds they don't really give a rat's ass about their employees' work conditions...

Hopefully their employees get together and take them to court, THEY GOT TONS OF MONEY so it's easy for them to share it with people actually delivering the games. And you know the government will make them win, they aren't very happy with Rockstar already...

Why would Nike and Chanel go to China to make fun of their slaves while Rockstar can do it right here in the States...

I am sure that Jack Thompson would be more than happy to help those workers get some money out of Rockstar.

Clearly not ALL of Rockstar's employees feel the same way as that handful of employees did. As they MADE THIS WALLPAPER. No one finds that ironic?

Bad move, Rockstar. Bad move...

...Why...? Um...FAIDE.

What do you mean "Why?"...

Rockstar:

"Gee, let's not take these allegations seriously... and while we're not publicly commenting on the situation, let's make these wallpapers that resemble a comment that has been issued about us to let people know we're reading all the interviews, but doing nothing to resolve it.....

Except to create these AWESUM WALLPAPERZ!!!1!"

I wonder which department had to work unpaid overtime to make this wallpaper...

thats pretty fucking hilarious

It's pretty fucking sad.

Well--it's hilarious in a "I can't believe a publicly traded corporation thought this was an appropriate way to respond to allegations of employee abuse" sense.

[banned]

lol, people need a sense of humor.

why do some of you seem to want to foster such creepy totalitarianism?

if things are bad at a place of work, you should by all means be able to express that instead of having to keep your mouth shut and just endure it or get out.

what some of you propose is so freaking strange, it is as if you literally want corporatism.

fyi:

http://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate_accountability/history_corporations_us.html

That wallpaper is too wreck for me not to download.

I doubt that took very long to create, maybe half an hour with some clip art and juicy drops backgrounds.

THE EYE.

Love LOTR.

This image makes overworking seem totally awesome.

What I don't understand is that in just about every other industry people are being expected to work extra hours in order to keep their jobs in the recession. Some people are happy for the opportunity to keep working at all, yet somehow this is a big deal because it's a video game company. I'm not sure how long this has been going on, and while I don't condone it, it's become quite a common theme in many workplaces lately.

Non wonder you think like that. You're an aristocrat, Go drink your tea while petting your poodle!...

What a bunch of dick weasels.

First Infinity Ward and now Rockstar.

Is it so hard for a developer to find success and stay humble at the same time?

assholes.

Immature assholes....

No one forced them to work for Rockstar, I'm jobless and would gladly work for anybody for something resembling slave wages.

Why not just work your street corner?

Oh, right. No health insurance.

OR the fact that you have to be an amazing street performer in order to make money. Otherwise you just get stepped on.

[edited for inappropriateness]

@Ben
Don't overreact.

@Planet
Don't insult people's misfortunes.

All I was trying to say is I'm tired of people bitching about management this, poor leadership that. Don't like your job, quit.

@LB

Sometimes you can't just "quit your job"

When you're married and have kids, you need your job for not only the wages, but the security. You need the salary, you need the insurance. You can't just say, "screw this" and quit. Life isn't that simple some times, especially in this economy.

If Rockstar's violating labor laws, that's the issue, not someone who's pissy because of "bad management"

Sorry Steve. I was just on a role. I had a good one lined up for Ben about how it doesn't matter what his mom looks like because they all look the same from the back and when the lights are off, but you're right. Forgive me.

CP loves you.

I'm still confused, what does Ben's mother look like?

I'm not sure whether it's good or bad that they have a sense of humor about this.

I'd have to say bad... It shows that they couldn't care less about employees. They take a serious comment about how an ex-employee felt about working there, and they poke fun at it. To see how many people are lodging complaints about working there and the response by Rockstar, it really does put them in a negative light.

That is how I am seeing it, at least.

Anyone remember when Sauron was an entity that watched people and not a giant literal burning eye?

No, i don't think anyone remembers that, given that it never existed

Sorry, but nobody ever reads the best book Tolkein ever wrote: The Silmarillion.

Yeah, that bugged me too. You'd think if he were literally a floating fire eye, they would have described him as such.

He was much more believable in the Silmarillion, as was Melkor. Both physical entities with real bodies and whatnot.

Except that Sauron lost his physical body in the destruction of Númenor, and could never again take on a humanoid form. Tolkien is pretty clear about how Sauron took many shapes, but mostly stayed in the form of an ever-searching lidless eye.

@BigD145
I agree. Have you read Children of Hurin?

@bVork
Nah. If Sauron couldn’t manifest as a humanoid after the fall of Numenor, then how is it that Isildur managed to cut the ring from his FINGER? Tolkien is never clear about Sauron’s form in the third age; his references to the “Eye” are likely metaphors for Sauron’s will, or thought, or… whatever. Incidently: when you read about the “arm of Mordor”, do you envision a giant appendage reaching out to thwart the fellowship?

Just to clarify for all involved:

After the destruction of Numenor Sauron could never (or never would) take a fair form again - he was not a horrible form as Annatar or when Ar-Pharazon captured him.

And no, he was never a literal eyeball in the tower of Barad-Dur - never understood why Jackson had to do that. He was incoporeal but he had a 'seeing eye' or it could even have been the palantir of Minas Ithil that gave him the ability to see what was passing in Middle Earth.

Since when has the word "classy" been used to describe anything regarding Rockstar or their games in anything other than an ironic manner? Was GTA San Andreas or Manhunt more classy? They're regular classholes.

They even worked in the wife letters with those twin peaks.

I think Rockstar is commenting on how the media, and therefore everyone, is keeping an eye on them because of the accusations, while at the same time referencing to a comment from a former employee.

A little weird, but I don't think they are insulting their employees like everyone is saying.

That's some nice spin there. You work for the government?

I'm not saying what Rockstar did was right, I think it's inappropriate. I'm just giving my interpretation of their wallpapers. The eye of Sauron is the media keeping an eye on Rockstar, which means they think the media is blowing this out of proportion.

On a sidenote, It could be even worse to issue an official statement to the media thereby revealing stuff they don't want people to know and further damage their reputation. Maybe they're trying to let it die and resolve the issue internally.

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

Rockstar seemingly responds to 'Eye of Sauron' comment with rad, rude wallpaper

Reader Comments (78)

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:32PM JoeJoeCastillo said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 9:13PM Ridgecity said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 9:18PM Ridgecity said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 9:30PM Chulipin said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 11:05PM carmaction said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:32PM Wiizer said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:40PM Shadowbender said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:44PM Wiizer said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:20PM BigD145 said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:33PM BrianH said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:13PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:36PM justinslot said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 6:39PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 6:45PM BrianH said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 6:56PM pax copia said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:34PM No Kill Tayler said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:16PM PN04 said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:37PM Shadowbender said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:40PM Cypher FDP said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 6:20PM aristokrat said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 9:23PM Ridgecity said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:43PM Shagittarius said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 6:29PM Sam406 said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:46PM Typicalgamer said

Posted: Jan 17th 2010 8:28PM Jakeybaby said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:49PM Meditron said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:51PM Wiizer said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:59PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:20PM Captain Planet Planeteer Power said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:32PM Special Agent Steve said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:39PM Meditron said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 6:01PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 6:08PM Captain Planet Planeteer Power said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 7:02PM Captain Planet Planeteer Power said

Posted: Jan 17th 2010 2:56AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 4:57PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:23PM Titus8705 said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:00PM wcarnation said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:10PM TheDarkWayne said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:18PM BigD145 said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:30PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 9:33PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 11:54PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 17th 2010 4:26AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Jan 17th 2010 11:57AM OnToGloryReturns said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:08PM Assmar said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:17PM BigD145 said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:17PM Finito said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 5:38PM Assmar said

Posted: Jan 16th 2010 6:16PM Finito said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

WB conjures up Harry Potter for Kinect this fall

Featured Stories

Silver Lining: I Am Alive's unfeeling world

Game Of Thrones and the paradoxes of adaptation

Super Joystiq Podcast 004: 38 Studios meltdown, Gravity Rush, Civilization 5: Gods & Kings, Dragon's Dogma

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW