‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ review: Great art at great cost

Before we dive in with this review, a word about development crunch. In recent weeks, Rockstar Games has been mired in controversy after studio co-head Dan Houser suggested in an interview that the final sprint to Red Dead Redemption 2‘s release sometimes involved 100-hour work weeks.

Houser later clarified his quote, noting that the “100-hour work week” comment applied only to the four guys on the senior writing team and adding that “we obviously don’t expect anyone else to work this way” at Rockstar.

On the Tuesday before RDR2’s release, Houser’s assertion fell into doubt after Kotaku published an investigation into the work-life balance and corporate culture at Rockstar. The in-depth feature paints a nuanced picture of a company filled with passionate artists who, yes, often do work above and beyond their weekly hours, at times because they want to and at times because of pressure from the company leadership — all the way up to Houser. Read more…

More about Entertainment, Gaming, Rockstar Games, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Entertainment