As Red Dead Redemption 2 kicks off its first week of release, people can’t help but linger on the Rockstar worker etiquette controversy. To those unfamiliar, this was when Dan Houser said during an interview that workers put in 100 hours a week to complete the western title in time for its deadline.
This then brought a few Rockstar employees out to express their end of the story, some defended Rockstar while others complained. Those complaining were mostly ex-employees.
Red Dead Redemption 2 has an amazing attention to detail. Something the developers have prided themselves on whether it be the horse’s care and physical attributes or the gunplay mechanics. These dedicated details seep right down to the brochures you see in stores across the world. This includes the gunsmiths that are responsible for making your firearms. This gunsmith brochure, in fact, seems like the source of a jab a the company’s work practices.
As the description for the Cattleman revolver reads:
Now whether this is just sheer coincidence, the parallels it has with the working hours controversy itself is undeniable as well.
Apparently, the claims and rumors were more or less true as employees did, in fact, say that they were overworked. Despite Rockstar’s continued assurance that the company’s crunch culture was a common last stretch thing which the team had been doing for years.
This didn’t calm people down as they threatened to boycott the game upon its release. The employees that talked out regarding the overworking however, defended the game’s release. Explaining that they expect royalties from the company which depend on the success of the game. Besides that, they also said that they actually want the people to experience what they worked so hard on.
Regardless, Red Dead Redemption 2 has been a huge success thus far. Both with its sales as well as its critical acclaim from sites like Metacritic and players themselves. Whether that gun description was even shade thrown at Rockstar isn’t confirmed. Although maybe we’ll see it be patched in the future? Who knows.
