Philadelphia, who was the lead writer for both Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, has finally shared his thoughts about his leaving Rockstar Games. He saw the reason for his exit as a very honest and legitimate one. The man almost let it out that the undertakings were simply enormous, highly intricate, and utterly time-consuming to complete. To him, the whole process was like a huge theater production built over your shoulders and taking up your time for years, never knowing really if there was still one last game in you.
The dimensions of these products are nothing less than insane. Houser did not exactly deny it when he nearly told that gamers have suspected for a long time that the making of games like GTA and Red Dead has turned into a gigantic monster of a task which literally devours the developers’ lives. He quoted “It can be a tough journey getting things at that scale with that many moving parts finished” and, really, do you find any flaw in the man then, after discussing that struggle for decades?
Everybody was hotly anticipating GTA 6, however, the whole thing being revealed when it was, was not without interest. The players in the comments were quick to notice the link, one said “GTA 6 scale is MASSIVE, we are not talking about a few hundred thousand or even millions. This is over a BILLION DOLLAR beast with sky-high stakes.” Well, I completely agree with such a statement because it exactly fits the reason why the development process is so damn long nowadays.
Nevertheless, some gamers did not accept the official story as credible. “That’s the public reason anyway… lol” was the response of one commentator implying there is more to the story. But in all honesty? After being part of the development of a game like Red Dead Redemption 2–whose life cycle, including pre-production, lasted almost the entire decade–one might not be surprised if the developer got exhausted.
The argument in the replies was pretty intense. Some people defended the lengthy production times stating that “People burn out, even with their passion. You need breaks” while others criticized Rockstar saying “10 years to develop a game is illogical” and complaining about the companies’ abandoning of franchises like Midnight Club and Bully.
There was even a debate about the start of GTA 6’s development timeline. Some players thought it should have been the point when GTA 5 was finished, while others pointed out that Rockstar was first occupied with RDR2. Then someone posted this transcript from an investor call saying that GTA 6 “began development in earnest in 2020” which… wow, that is really recent if you think about it.
What is most intriguing in this whole saga is the divide in the community. A segment of gamers fully supports Houser’s position and goes as far as to say “I totally agree with Dan and It’s completely understandable” while the other side is more like “Ese es tu trabajo” which translates to “That’s your job” and implies that he should just cope with it.
Then the major issue of money came up in the comments. An inquisitive guy asked the question, “Does Dan Houser share in the billions that Take2 makes? Why should he spend years of his life in a mouse cage just to make others rich?” which, let me assure you, is a very logical question. The truth is that although these video games are sold for outrageous prices we still have no idea how much money goes to the creative geniuses behind the scenes?
The incredible dimension of the games that Houser talked about is simply hard to believe. 450,000 words of dialogue? Apart from that, “equal numbers of parts of other things all trying to assemble themselves”? No doubt, this is one of the main causes why this industry is taking so long to produce a movie. The writing process is not the only one; it is the coordination of thousands of moving objects around several studios, managing voice acting, motion capture, programming, testing—the list goes on.
On the other hand, some gamers were bothered by the implications of Houser’s leaving in regard to the quality of games. One of them simply stated “GTA 6 will be trash” which sounds a bit rushed, but the worry is really understandable since the author of the best stories in the series has left the company.
It has become evident that development of this sort has developed into a massive factory-style process, which is completely different from the way things were done even ten years ago. Houser’s comments highlight the extent of the industry’s evolution and it is possible that the demand for creativity to match the ‘bigger’ and ‘better’ each time is draining the talent. At least, you cannot help but respect Houser for his candor regarding the reason for his departure. He created some of the most unforgettable stories in gaming from the American culture’s satirical take of GTA and Red Dead.
