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Rockstar staff worked 100-hour weeks to finish Red Dead Redemption 2

Rockstar staff worked 100-hour weeks to finish Red Dead Redemption 2

Another day, another example of this industry not really caring for the health of game developers.

Staff at Rockstar San Diego have reportedly been working 100-hour weeks in order to finish cowboy simulator Red Dead Redemption 2. No, that title isn't coming to PC - at least not yet - but these ridiculous working conditions need to be given the exposure they deserve.

That's according to an interview with boss Dan Houser with Vulture, in which the development vet revealed the absurd working hours. Houser says that this is the hardest project Rockstar has ever worked on.

This follows the infamous 2010 Rockstar Spouse letter, in which the partners of developers at the San Diego studio complained about the working conditions at the company, claiming 60-hour weeks were expected, as were 12-hour days and working on weekends.

Earlier this year, the CEO of Rockstar parent firm Take-Two Strauss Zelnick said that he was "really proud" of the company's working practices, telling GI.biz: "We have a hard-working company," Zelnick said at the time. "It's a privilege to work at our company and our labels. And I believe that our work practices are sound and appropriate. It is a very busy time, but it's a time that people are anxious to participate in. And I stand behind it."

Boy, sure wish I was working myself to the bone and not seeing my family so that people can play as an imaginary cowboy. 

This comes after months of tension with developers looking to unionise and secure better working conditions


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.