PS4 Release Date Launch Marred By PlayStation 4 Assembly Line Forced Into Unpaid Work

The PS4 release date launch party is being overshadowed by reports that PlayStation 4 assembly line workers at Foxconn are being forced to overwork in order to meet the deadline.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the PS4 release date launch bundle will include Killzone and the PlayStation Camera if you purchase the package that is expensive as the Xbox One price.

Foxconn is the Chinese manufacturing company responsible for making the PlayStation 4 hardware in addition to many other contracts, even including parts for the Apple iPhone 5S. But in order to meet the deadline set for the PS4 release date Foxconn allegedly pressured Chinese students into taking jobs at the PlayStation 4 assembly line.

Students at China’s Xi’an Institute of Technology found themselves stuck in a PS4 assembly line unless they wanted to risk losing six internship course credits necessary to graduate from the college. These unpaid students were forced to work overtime and through the night, carrying out mindless tasks like packaging PS4 accessories and manuals.

This is not the first time Foxconn has been criticized for how they operate their business. Foxconn became infamous for installing “suicide nets” in the worker dorm rooms for a factory that produced Apple products. They’ve even admitted to hiring underage workers in the past.

Foxconn responded to the controversy over unpaid students working the PS4 assembly line by “reinforcing the policies of no overtime and no night shifts for student interns.” Company officials insist they meet the conditions of the Sony Supplier Code of Conduct, claiming they are “complying with all applicable laws, work ethics, labor conditions, and respect for human rights, environmental conservation, and health and safety.”

But Foxconn also claims the students were voluntarily working the PlayStation 4 assembly in order to make sure the PS4 release date launch had enough consoles to meet demand. Supposedly, the student intern work was “voluntary,” did not risk any college credits, and they could have left at any time. Sure, and the Xbox One is faster than the PlayStation 4.