2018General sourceWell documented
The Crunch Controversy
On the timeline · around 2018 ·
What happened
Ahead of Red Dead Redemption 2, co-founder Dan Houser remarked that his team had been 'working 100-hour weeks,' igniting an industry-wide uproar over 'crunch.' Houser later clarified the comment applied to a small senior writing group, but the storm renewed scrutiny of Rockstar's working conditions.
Why it matters
The episode made Rockstar a focal point in gaming's reckoning over overwork, a debate that has reshaped how studios talk about labor and development.