It’s easy to gaze over the snow-capped peaks of Ambarino or the meandering waters of Little Creek River and assume you are looking at a work of art rather than playing a video game. Every minute detail of Red Dead Redemption 2 is so meticulously crafted right down to the tiniest detail. The way Arthur Morgan’s grows with the passing of time, how townsfolk dress according to the weather, and how milk drains from every individual bullet shot into the drum.
Implementing just a few of these features is a monumental task, let alone designing thousands upon thousands of interactions which blend seamlessly together to create a living, breathing world.
Rockstar listed an eye watering 3024 contributors on their pre-release thank you page for the game. Every quality assurance tester, weapons system designer, visual artist, animation coordinator, motion capture actor an essential cog that ensured as polished a release as possible, positioning Red Dead Redemption 2 to capture the minds of almost anyone who played it.
In July, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, confirmed plans to eliminate 3200 jobs across Microsoft’s video game division by the end of the fiscal year. Axing jobs from small studios and massive triple A teams, including the enormously successful id Software, despite the commercial and critical acclaim the DOOM reboot garnered.
It’s difficult to comprehend the volume of lives being decimated by this decision, not to mention the impact on the wider gaming ecosystem. So, to enlighten people, the Communications Workers of America staged a protest outside Bethesda’s Rockville offices, planting one red flag for each of the 3200 cut jobs. They dressed the lawn in red, like poppies scattered over a battlefield, commemorating every one of those lost soldiers.
Just off the Northern Road, between Brandywine Drop and the Wapiti Indian Reservation, is a small alcove nestled beneath the towering mountains. It’s home to menacing grizzly bears which, if you are caught resting on your laurels, will pounce from the trees holding a one-way ticket to the ‘DEAD’ screen. But in that same alcove, lies a sea of vibrant red poppies which sway in the breeze and jostle gently as you walk by.
This is my favourite place in Red Dead Redemption 2.
A place so serene and peaceful that you can easily forget that you’re playing a game. A place created by a studio who, without their almost 3200 developers, may never have captured the magic behind the draw dropping landscapes and reactive environments.
The video game industry is caught in a destructive dance, pivoting back and forth between rising development costs and devastating layoffs. A dance which, if it continues spinning out of control, will consume more livelihoods, preventing jaw dropping scenes from reaching their audiences in the first place. These developer’s potential is being swept away and all that stands as a reminder is 3200 little red flags, standing like poppies, swaying in the breeze.
Gaming Acuity 