11 Most Outrageous Video Game Controversies Of 2018

Have you heard? Red Dead Redemption 2 is out, and it's rather good. The big, bold and bloody beautiful world of Rockstar's Old Western epic is a landmark technical achievement and a crown jewel of the current console generation, but games like these don't grow on trees.

Blood, sweat and (likely literal) tears were shed in the making of Arthur Morgan's grand tale of moral redemption, a mammoth undertaking that involved all three of Rockstar's major studios and purported 100-hour working weeks to see the project through to completion.

In the revelation's aftermath, red flags flew at full mast almost immediately, resulting in several lengthy investigative articles to discern just how true the claim was. Kotaku's exhaustive piece, in particular, told of several employees who felt Rockstar's top management fostered a "culture of fear" among employees who felt it necessary to put in as many hours as possible, while others could only sing Rockstar's praises for its handling of the workplace.

Regardless of the reality and for better or worse, the expose brought to light the extreme amount of man-hours required to make games like Red Dead 2 a reality and the dangers of 'crunch' culture.