10 Gaming Industry Secrets You Didn't Know

10. Developers Who Leave A Game Mid-Production May Not Receive A Credit

The extremely complex nature of video game development means that releasing a AAA title typically requires the efforts of around 600 people, and on top-tier blockbuster projects like, say, those produced by Rockstar Games, that number can easily cross 1,000.

And while this seems to explain why most AAA video game credit rolls are so freaking long, there's actually a mostly unspoken culture of publishers effectively weaponising game credits against unhappy employees.

If you work on only a small portion of a game or, worse still, leave mid-development for another studio, it's quite possible you'll either be relegated to the "special thanks" section or even left off the credits entirely.

Unlike the film industry, there aren't any concrete, legally binding guidelines in the largely non-union video game business, allowing companies like Rockstar to reportedly leave hundreds of people who worked on Red Dead Redemption 2 off the credits.

Worse still, Rockstar actually admitted that the practise was instituted to encourage their employees to "get to the finish line." Oof.

Given that developers rely on credits to secure future work, and claiming they've worked on a major AAA title without a credit to back it up makes them look dishonest, it's a massively harmful tactic to exert power over developers - and one which publishers need to be called out on.