Six Studios, Five Years, Zero Games: Is Rockstar Games in Trouble?

Even though Rockstar Games is known for impeccable quality productions, the recent (though widely expected) delay of Red Dead Redemption 2 means that almost five years will have passed between new games from the developer. OnlySP questions whether this massive release gap is cause for concern.

[T2X]

Not really. They create huge masterpieces that take years and lots of money and resources to make. ANd when they do release, they sell large amounts and receive support for many years after. So, I wouldn't worry too much.

[Wakka10]

People used to say that about Final Fantasy and Bioware... look at their standing among fans now.

[Overload]

"Final Fantasy 15 is the fastest-selling game in series history"
https://www.polygon.com/201...

Final Fantasy 15 exceeds 6 million units in shipments and digital sales
https://www.vg247.com/2017/...

[Wakka10]

Sales figures =/= reception. Here's an exercise, go visit the comment sections of FFXV articles published since release to see what people say about the game they've played. Or visit Metacritic and check the most recent/most helpful reviews.
I mean, how many comments have you read saying that CoD: Infinite Warfare is crap, yet it still sold considerably better than almost anything else released last year.

[Overload]

Vocal minorities can be confusing. FF7R will come out and do bigger numbers. Look at the online hate for Destiny and SWBF, yet they're are 2 of the biggest games of this generation, Destiny has a player retention % most developers only dream of, yet everyone online and all their friends hate Destiny.

[EazyC]

Not like R*, their games are on another level

[Nitrowolf2]

You are missing the point. This isnt about how the fans feel, its about whether the company can stay a float.

Sales are exceeding what they expected, thats good news for them. Whether fans like the game or not is an entirely different subject.

@the question in the article.

Honestly GTA5 is still a top selling, and they are making loads off microtransaction. I dont think their in trouble tbh

[InTheZoneAC]

are you simple? when had GTA or RDR dropped drastically in terms of quality and content?

[3-4-5]

Rockstar & Square-enix are different in their approach.

Square takes long because of lack of communication and poor leadership at the top, where as Rockstar takes forever because THAT is how they operate....Always have.

I think Square recently realized they need to get their stuff together when it comes to FF7 remake and the studio they outsourced it too wasn't getting the job down so they brought it in house.

Rockstar has a road map and a plan....Square doesn't.

Square-Enix does a really good job with the Dragon Quest series though which is kind of confusing.

They make all the right decisions with Dragon Quest and almost no right decisions with Final Fantasy.

The Final Fantasy dev team needs a shake up and reset.....bring new people in who actually have good taste for games.

If I was square I'd be asking the Dragon Quest team for tips/hints/help.....they actually know what they are doing over there.

Rockstar and it's next games are fine.

They are releasing Red Dead 2 this year and GTA 6 in 2018/19.

^ That is the main reason why.

[RosweeSon]

Has a final fantasy game ever sold 80 million copies... 1 game in the series?! Nope. Not the mention said game has a massively lucrative online mode 💰💰💰

[Gaming101]

Does anyone here read? Rockstar has made somewhere in the hundreds of millions of dollars in shark cards alone. They are riding the gravy train with low operations high profit margins. It's a cash cow business for them, so of course they're going to delay any game that will draw a single player away from GTA 5.

[freshslicepizza]

They also used to create multiple games. Midnight Club should be revisited too.

[EazyC]

It's so annoying they have seemingly retired Midnight Club, we NEED a new gen one

[Erik7357]

We actually don't know...your comment is honestly just as valid as this article.

Could be maybe they are raising the bar for what we expect in games or they could be struggling. We can never know until the game comes out

[XanderZane]

Exactly. They are known for delaying their games until they are exactly the way they want them to be. So I won't even sweat it. I can wait until next year for RDR2. I'm sure they are working on GTA VI and probably one other masterpiece.

[seanpitt23]

The thing is if gta5 wasn't so popular then we would of definitely seen and be playing another rockstar game by now.

RDR2 would be in my console now.

So we have only ourselves to blame for buying 80 million copies of gta5 plus 100s of millions daft shark cards.

If someone said to me 3 years ago that rockstar will only release one game this gen I wouldn't of believe them but thats definitely what they are going to do.

[scofios]

Yeah they sold 75 million copys of gta5 they must be in trouble /s

[SonyAddict]

Rockstar games in trouble lol no chance hahaa

[C-H-E-F]

Agreed, every since the PS3, Rockstar pulled back off of quantity and focused on Quality. For example the released 1 Midnight Club last gen and that was/is still (to me atleast) one of the best racing games launched last year. They released 2 GTA's in a 7 year span, So of course when you look at it, those games took a very long time to make, GTAIV was in dev in PS2 era and GTAV was in dev since GTAIV was like 3/4 done and it still took 7 years to release. They said a few years back that they are quality focused over quantity. They own plenty of other studios that publish games like NBA 2k makes about 120 million from playstation/xbox on launch day (selling 1 million / console) for example, they are far from being "hurt" by not having annual big franchise games. SHhhhh I just said the other day GTAV is still the top 5 selling game every month... that's incredible, they aren't worried about sales as much as this author thinks. haha.

[-Foxtrot]

It would be nice to see their games release a little quicker...they can have plenty of time on the game they are making but at least have something to put out in the meantime.

[Mr Pumblechook]

"Is Rockstar Games in Trouble?" GTA V has sold over 75 million copies. GTA V Online is generating a shit-ton of money. Somehow I think Rockstar are okay. ;) They know not to annualise a franchise to death.

[-Foxtrot]

True but I think it's because of that they think they can do whatever the f*** they want, especially with the online and MT

They are getting a little big headed and it's worrying despite how good their games are. Gives them that "Meh...screw em, they'll love us in the end regardless and we'll be rich still" attitude.

[shmowboyfebop]

@foxtrot

Who knows. They tend to make good games. I haven't noticed any sort of aggrandized ego from them. They're one of the few groups I have faith in.

[Bronxs15]

Curious. What do people do in gta online?? I just played single player never looked at online.

[Kleptic]

100% arm chair 'consumer analysts' in regards to the business behind the company.

Doesn't matter 'what people do online' in GTAV, it has generated more profit than most, even popular and well received, titles do entirely...doesn't matter that 'I don't understand it, i barely tried it'...see above.

This isn't some annual franchise that recently started struggling...GTAV was one of the highest reviewed titles of last gen, then WAS the highest reviewed, and highest selling, titles for nearly half of the current gen...A re-released 'HD' version of a last gen title crushed nearly everything this gen could come up with for an alarmingly long time...If anything, all this shows is how out of whack the rest of the industry was for like 5 years...and Rockstar simply took a breather during it. Little overhead, print money...and they're 'big headed' because of it?

...they're fine...there is absolutely no business reason to be worried about future products just yet...the complainers are of a minority, and even better...the transparency of them buying future products despite complaints...is obvious...they will, they always have...and will continue to.

[Mr_Writer85]

@foxtrot

"they think they can do whatever the f*** they want, "

Well they can do its their work and its clearly working.

If people didn't want more GTA Online content they wouldn't make it.

Why waste your time making content for people who don't play GTA online when you have people who do giving you money?

[ServerBOT]

A little project like Rockstar Table Tennis would be pretty sweet.

[Brave_Losers_Unite]

Are you kidding me? They are swimming in cash.

[JackBNimble]

Exactly, GTAV has sold 70 million copies alone as well as all the microtransactions along side it.

[BlakHavoc]

Uh no. They produce one of the highest selling franchises in history, GTA. RDR2 is going to sell a ton, and whatever else they release I'm sure will be met with critical and commercial acclaim.