Red Dead Redemption May Never be Profitable

Tom Goldman

Crying on the inside.
Aug 17, 2009
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Red Dead Redemption May Never be Profitable



In the wake of the Rockstar San Diego spouses' plea, more information has come out indicating that the studio's key franchises are suffering.

Working conditions at Rockstar San Diego allegedly suck, as the studio employees' wives recently Red Dead Redemption [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/97391-Rockstar-Wives-Complain-About-Working-Conditions] may be coming out sometime in April, but only after an expensive six-year development hell.

When Rockstar San Diego completed Midnight Club: LA [http://www.amazon.com/Midnight-Club-Los-Angeles-Xbox-360/dp/B000WQ4KHQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1280865924&sr=1-1], many employees, some 10 year veterans, were either fired or quit due to the game's mishandling by Rockstar New York. The sources say: "Anyone from the New York office is feared, because people in the San Diego office know that they are unstable and needy ... in other words, if a comment comes from a person from New York, it's a mandate that needs to be immediately addressed regardless of previous priorities." The future of the Midnight Club series, despite decent profits in the past, is still up in the air, though it doesn't appear that Rockstar San Diego will be handling it anymore.

Another source at Rockstar San Diego says that Red Dead Redemption "was a complete disaster for most of 2009 and previous ... it has since turned around a little bit, but there are huge problems with it still." The latest trailer [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/96474-Red-Dead-Redemption-Still-Looks-Pretty-Sweet] looked pretty good to me, but ultimately trailers don't mean a thing. Even if Red Dead Redemption does make it out, sources say "it's been in production for six years (mainly because of horrible management/lack of direction due to fear of disrespecting Rockstar NY) and it will never get the money back in sales it cost to create for those six years." One source's estimate requires the game to sell five million copies to make back its development cost, but at this point it's more about Rockstar San Diego proving it can make a top-tier title rather than a profit.

The trouble looks like it can be boiled down to improper management and conflict with Rockstar New York. Joystiq's source continues: "The functional team that was Midnight Club was shattered. All the people who didn't quit or get fired were thrown onto Red Dead Redemption, many of them being demoted. The completely dysfunctional team that is RDR was put to top priority. The people who had floundered on that project or outright screwed it up were promoted and are now in complete control of the studio, and they're running it into the ground." For all you videogame industry job hunters out there, it doesn't look like Rockstar San Diego is a smart place to look at for employment.

Sources: Joystiq [http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/11/sources-rockstar-san-diego-not-working-on-more-midnight-club-ga/]

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Tzekelkan

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Dec 27, 2009
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Thz trailers made the game look great in any case. I will most likely buy Red Dead Redemption if I get a console by the time it comes out. Rockstar's projects have always impressed me and this one, frankly, is looking very awesome.
 

Nincompoop

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May 24, 2009
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Ehm... Wewt? I totally didn't get that vibe from what I've seen so far from RDR. But as you said, a trailer (almost) doesn't mean a thing.

They better release the game. I'd rather buy it as it appears from the trailers with some hiccups, instead of just not getting it at all.
 

CoverYourHead

High Priest of C'Thulhu
Dec 7, 2008
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That is a damn shame. I'm looking forward to RDR, perhaps I shouldn't be. It's pretty sad to hear about a studio suffering so horribly, I wish it weren't so.
 

Loop Stricken

Covered in bees!
Jun 17, 2009
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Redepmtion, eh.

I would've thought they'd still be rolling in cash from the GTAs mind you.
 

scnj

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Nov 10, 2008
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It's weird, I really thought Rockstar Games had their shit together. Someone needs to step in and get rid of the people responsible for all these conflicts.
 

Icehearted

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Jul 14, 2009
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I'm actually pretty psyched about RDR, so I hope the final release is a complete one and not something as broken as, say, True Crime: Streets of New York. It'd be a shame considering how rare a good western game is, let alone a sandbox one.
 

SendMeNoodz84

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Jun 11, 2009
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Rockstar games better not fuck RDR up. It's only behind ME2 on my most wanted games this year! If they fuck it up I'm going to be fucking pissed.
 

ffxfriek

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Apr 3, 2008
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SendMeNoodz84 said:
Rockstar games better not fuck RDR up. It's only behind ME2 on my most wanted games this year! If they fuck it up I'm going to be fucking pissed.
i dont like GTA at all but im looking forward to RDR so they better not screw it up....
 

Low Key

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May 7, 2009
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That reminds me about this [http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/life/money/article/15445--bad-bosses-more-likely-to-get-promoted-while-employees-squirm] story. For those of you who don't have the time to read the whole thing or are just too lazy to click the link, it basically says that almost 65% of the surveyed employees said their bosses either didn't receive any punishment for bad behavior or they got promoted.
 

Beffudled Sheep

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Jan 23, 2009
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Ocelot GT said:
damn new yorkers
Yep. Shame to hear such a story. Oh well what can we do?

Now the reason why I quoted you. Who is your avatar? It looks really familiar and it is driving me insane.
 

FallenJellyDoughnut

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Jun 28, 2009
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SendMeNoodz84 said:
Rockstar games better not fuck RDR up. It's only behind ME2 on my most wanted games this year! If they fuck it up I'm going to be fucking pissed.
Lol, u mad?

Seriously though, I really do want this game to come out and am really looking forward to lassoing some bandit, then beating the shit out of him.
 

Ocelot GT

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Oct 29, 2009
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Jester Lord said:
Ocelot GT said:
damn new yorkers
Yep. Shame to hear such a story. Oh well what can we do?

Now the reason why I quoted you. Who is your avatar? It looks really familiar and it is driving me insane.
kallen stadtfeld from code geass