Red Dead Redemption Shouldn't Have Worked

Studio Controversies Emerge

In spite of these successes though, such a gargantuan and ambitious project was never going to be easy. The developers started to feel the strain between 2009 and 2010. At the time, Gamasutra published a blog post from an individual labelled "Rockstar Spouse" who detailed the poor working conditions of employees at the studio. The report stated that as of March 2009, development duties had become unethically strained with employees working twelve hour work-days six days a week.

Inside sources within Rockstar staff told of poor management, benefits being cut, work-life balance suffering and serious cases of burnout. The complaints were so fierce that they started to negatively impact the latter stages of development. Unfortunately, the game's fans were mostly unaware of this, instead looking more towards the end product and how it would play.

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