Red Dead Redemption and Bully are some of Rockstar Games’ most defining hits – outside of the juggernaut Grand Theft Auto series, of course – but those classics almost didn’t happen, according to studio co-founder and former lead writer Dan Houser.
Speaking to IGN, the former Rockstar lead explains that all-new and original games have a much tougher time reaching the finish line than sequels.
“I think there were lots of moments where Red Dead nearly didn’t happen. I think there were lots of moments when Bully nearly didn’t happen, and lots of other moments when games that didn’t happen could have,” Houser says. “There are lots of happenstance moments, or one good build, or the game suddenly comes together, that save projects that are struggling.”
Building any AAA game is a challenge in itself, but new franchises in particular “tend to struggle a lot, so it’s almost more impressive when they get made than it is heartbreaking when they don’t,” Houser adds. 2010’s Red Dead Redemption even faced a “lot of difficult periods” – though the cowboy classic made it through thanks to the “core people on the team [who] were really strong, held focus on what they were trying to do, and solved the problems.”
Houser recalls that development on Red Dead Redemption was interesting because the team were discovering “what the problems were and figuring out solutions to slowly unpick what was interesting about an open-world cowboy game.” In hindsight, what makes Red Dead interesting is “obvious,” he says, “but in real-time you were left with nothing but holes you’re slowly filling.”
Rockstar’s Bully never spawned a sequel, sadly. Though the same can’t be said of the studio’s western epic – Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the best-selling games of all time. For now, the developer seems to be entirely focused on GTA 6.