13 Most WTF Gaming Industry Moments Of 2018

11. Rockstar Games' Controversial Work Culture

Kotaku's Jason Schreier posted a damning article on the eve of Red Dead Redemption 2's release, detailing a brutal culture of crunch at the majority of Rockstar Games' worldwide offices during the development of their latest AAA epic.

With reports of some employees working excessive amounts of effectively forced overtime, much of it unpaid, Rockstar came under immense press and fan scrutiny, as a debate emerged about the ethics of even buying the game.

More broadly it opened up a dialogue about the "necessity" of crunch, video game development cycles, the toxic potential of a workaholic mindset, and how harmful this all is to the industry at large.

Naturally, the outrage quickly died down once the game was released and scored mostly rave reviews, though there's sincere hope - if sure, nagging doubt - that Rockstar might implement a restructuring of some kind during late-stage development of Grand Theft Auto VI.