If you’ve been paying attention to the news recently, you’ll know that Red Dead Redemption 2 is on everyone’s minds and tongues, and not exactly for the right reasons. For a major interview with the companies head noted that the team had to put in several 100-hour work weeks to get the game done. This “reveal” set the internet ablaze, mainly because people outside the industry (and some in the industry) didn’t think it was right for Rockstar Games to require that of their team, likening it to oppression.
There’s been a lot of stories to come about this reveal since then, but one that many will be watching now is the current team (the ones actually working on Red Dead Redemption 2) talking about their time at Rockstar Games. And ironically…it’s very positive.
This all kicked off with Keith Thorburn, who works on music for Rockstar, and he noted that his experience was one of the best gaming experiences he ever had.
“First off, this was one of the most rewarding and least stressful projects I’ve worked on. I know what epic crunch feels like but this was managed in such a way that I felt happy and healthy. I can only speak of my own experience but I know in recent chats with the rest of my team we all remarked upon how we’d found a very healthy work/life balance on RDR2, which has always seemed like the holy grail of game development! Did I work overtime? Yes, but never excessively and always by choice.”
He went on at length to talk about how Rockstar Games never oppressed him and never forced him to work hours that he didn’t want to do. Since then, other members of Rockstar Games have come out in support of the studio and the studio heads. Whether this helps clear up the controversy is a bit up for debate, but it’s still something positive out of what was once a very negative story.
