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.

[Wakka10]

It's amusing that pretty much every comment defaults to the money that they've made off GTA V, thus suggesting that no-one read the part that admits that money is no issue. The article questions other things than the financial standing of Rockstar because that is one of the few things that there is absolutely nothing to be worried about at the present time.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

What is amusing is the attempt to suggest they are in trouble because they are releasing fewer and fewer games....even though the few they are releasing are well crafted mega hits beyond anything other devs are able to do. the amount of games you create should absolutely in no way be associated to whether a studio is in trouble in the face of the success Rockstar has had with their formula of multiple studios playing a hand in their crafting of their games. Now if RDR2 comes out and is utter trash then maybe this article should be republished then...but now? No.

[fenome]

They don't have any big publishers breathing down their neck about absurd deadlines, they take pride in what they do and it shows. I'd rather them hone their craft and release something they're proud of than pump the same shit out every year.

I'd rather wait for a quality product than just get slapped with reskinned crap over and over. There's a lot more room to tinker with things this gen, I don't think a lot of people really grasp that concept.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

I read it, and anyone that is speaking against the article is correct. R* is far from being in any sort of "trouble." The article is trying to make it out to be that the delay of RDR2 and the fact that outside of a port, they haven't released a game this gen, will somehow hurt R*'s brand/reputation which is not true at all.

Everyone expected RDR2 would be delayed. Delays are nothing new or out of the ordinary this gen. Also everyone knows that R* takes years to make their games so again, this is something that isn't surprising to gamers.

When RDR2 releases it will sell a ton. When GTA6 releases it will sell ton. Doesn't matter if they're delayed a decade. R* is no where close to being on "unsteady ground" or having a "bleak future" or "fading into insignificance" like the article suggests.

Only good point is R*'s apparent shift of focus to the multiplayer side of things. I personally don't think R* going the multiplayer route will put the studio in "trouble", but I personally would stop buying their games if it doesn't appeal to me. Either way I still expect RDR2 to deliver a stellar single player experience. R* has yet to let me down when it comes to SP so I'm given them the benefit of the doubt in that regard. Wish we would have gotten SP DLC for GTAV though.

[mocaak]

You wrote a shitty, clickbait article. Now deal with it, instead of commenting nonstop on your own submission.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

If Red Dead didn't get delayed, this article wouldn't exist. That, in and of itself, is both ironic and extremely weak as a basis for whatever logic they're trying to use as an argument. Even if Rockstar were somehow in trouble for whatever reason, the mountain of money they made on GTA V alone could be used to fill whatever development gaps or production holes they're theoretically having.

[Rimeskeem]

GTA 5 is the 4th best selling game of all time (behind Tetris, Minecraft, and Wii Sports). I dont think they are in trouble.

[DragonDDark]

Lol

[Sciurus_vulgaris]

With how much GTA V sells, and the revenue from GTA: Online. I highly doubt Rockstar is in any trouble. Anyways, the company is known for lengthy development times.

[bluefox755]

They might have been if GTA5 sold like previous entries, but it sold and is still selling absurd amounts, likely affording them the money to take their time.

[CrimsonWing69]

Not at freaking all you moron, have you seen the sales on GTA V to this date? These guys are Rockstars and when they make a game it's in a whole other league.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

lol.... Oh man. Didn't Rockstar / TakeTwo just announce they have sold like 80 million copies of GTA V? They are in absolute ZERO trouble. So silly....

[seanpitt23]

You can be in trouble as a company in other ways than being cash rich, for eg the talent that Rockstar had might of left due to the working conditions I know there was a court case and the guy who basically put red dead redemption into workable and playable state has now left the company. Yes red dead redemption had some big problems in development it's not all about money but I Know it's not a good sign for a massive company like Rockstar to release one game in a whole console generation.

[WeAreLegion]

RDR2 is in production. Bully II is, as well. I'd bet my life on that one.

[Overload]

This is going to become a meme at Rockstar Games.

[yomfweeee]

GTA V original release was September 2013, which is less than 4 years ago.

So, in addition to the click bait, they can't do math.

Let's not even forget that it released on current gen in 2014 and sold millions.
On PC in 2015 and sold millions.
Continues to be a top 10 game in sales even being 4 years old.

[IanTH]

Well, they did say that when it releases next year it'll have been 5 years (though that's obviously just taking it from 2013 to 2018 and not accounting for months). So at least they can do math, even if it is speculative napkin math lol.

But yea, given they keep putting out quality games (money is not really the article's focus here), I can't say I see how they are in trouble. I don't really like GTA games so I haven't bought 5, but even I can see they aren't in any trouble. I'm glad they'll be releasing Red Dead 2 since that is a bit more in my wheelhouse.

[TheOttomatic91]

Sigh what's with these click baited Polygon like articles? I came here to get away from that shit, it would be nice if more articles with ACTUAL news was upvoted here

[latinlegend81]

Don't think so. Unlike most of the companies that milk games dry by making games every year, and charging for every little Dlc. Rockstar knows how to make great quality games that keep fans happy for years. I would rather play a great game that they take their time with. Than play a cut & copy from the previous year.

[franwex]

They are just focusing a lot of resources into GTAV, which continues to sell well despite being in the market for years, and adds revenue due to micro transactions.

Though...

I agree with the sentiment that it would be nice to see more from them.

[DefenderOfDoom2]

Also, it has been a long time since ROCKSTAR has introduced a new IP . Would love to see ROCKSTAR release a non- linear but not a open world new IP .

[subtenko]

Are they not working right now? :| Yes they are working

[generic-user-name]

They'll go bust any day now...

[BlaqMagiq1]

I don't think the author realizes how much R* makes off of GTA Online microtransactions alone.

[ziggurcat]

No. They always take a long time to finish their games. And that's not such a bad thing, either. I would rather devs be able to take their time that be forced to rush it out the door.

[PlayableGamez-]

Lol

[Dfooster]

They have been printing money with gta online. Case closed

[VersusDMC]

GTA V is at around 65 to 75 million sold. Entire Franchises wish they could reach that number. It's also been 2 years and change since the GTAV PS4 version. They have also been releasing PS2 to PS4 ports on a regular basis. Dumb article. I suspect the reason of the delay is that all that GTA V money surrounding them. Hard to walk around, gets on the keyboards, on the screens... A real hassle. :)

[SirBradders]

You made me lol. They use money as toilet roll in the toilets, they throw money paper planes and their printer prints on money :-)

[About30Ninjas]

Rockstar always take they time when it comes to developing they games and honestly as a gamer I admire them for that, they not the type of company who looking for a quick cash grab like most of these companies I'm looking at you EA they type of company who create masterpieces

[FernDiggidy]

LOL at this headline.

[XbladeTeddy]

Well, they sold GTA V twice. For last gen and this gen. They know how to make money.

[cfc83]

RDR 2 will sell over 10m copies, as shark cards still rake it in. They're very strong. They probably have another i.p planned.

[agent13]

Why must they be in trouble? Gta v and gta online have earned millions of dollars for them.

[smashman98]

No Rockstar isn't your typical publisher they believe things in playing the long game with their products

[Lazyeye79]

That was a really well written article. I see where the author is coming from, but IMO I believe Rockstar Games knows what they are doing with this delay and future releases. I'm not worried about a thing.

[lazyboyblue]

Lol rockstar games print money for them every day all day

[Nacho_Z]

It's simply a case of quality over quantity with Rockstar and when the quality shows no sign of dropping then there's nothing to worry about. The length of time between games, frustrating as it is, has nothing to do with it.

[Elda]

Nearing 4 years into this gen & nothing new from R*...smh.

[smolinsk]

So fricking tired of Rockstart and the waiting, not even funny,cute or anything and not ready for there hype game anymore, so irritating, they got to much caught in making money on GTA multiplayer that they forgot what is was that got them to this stage in the first place.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

GTA V probably made more money than half the industry's other studios.

[Overload]

Fun fact. GTAV sold more than every Wii U game combined.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

lol jeezus is that really true?

[Overload]

Just double checked Wii U total software sold is 96M. So not quite, but pretty close GTA V being 80M.

I swear it was lower before, Mario Kart 8 (Wii U) and Zelda must have given it a boost in the last few years.

Still, pretty crazy stat.

[sliggio32]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! !

[jay2]

no, they have gta, rdr 2, they SHOULD have agent (sarcastic) i wish. other stuff we don't know about i'm sure.

[WelkinCole]

Again this is one of the reason why I put ND very high up. They release games in less time but the quality is still stellar.

Blizz and Rockstar obviously are top devs but the time they take is way longer than others.

ND and Project Red for me personally are top devs for the same reason that they developed top games for short amount of time.

Red especially with Witcher 3 I have no idea how they could devloped it in just 3.5 years for a game as massive at it is on multiple platforms. ND only took 18 months for U2 which was also staggering if you think about it.

[Bebedora]

How many years did FFXV take? And how many remakes and shitty games went before it to make the economy for FFXV?

R* have the chest of gold to take their time. I think Polygon and GT series when it comes to quality and time to make a game. I might be sh-t wrong, but I have my estimates.

What was the time btw GTA IV and V and what is the estimate time between RDR and RDR2?

[Kingcorey13]

No.

[senorfartcushion]

No they don't need to make any games but one at a time.

Should they remaster Max Payne 3? Yes they should but when Red Dead comes out, it's a billion dollar property

[DivoJones]

Don't think the OP realizes that GTA5 still frequents the NPD top 10 several years after its release and has sold 80mil copies. Rockstar lives by their product quality, not pumping out decent games every year or 2 but rather making masterpiece games every 5-7 years. They'll be just fine, thank you.

[YoshiMane]

GTA V sold 75 million copies with micro transactions on top of that... The are one of the top grossing studios in the world. GTA has been in the top 10 NPD's every month since launch. RESEARCH BEFORE ARTICLES PEOPLE!!!

[MultiConsoleGamer]

They're not in trouble because their biggest games will continue to literally make billions of dollars. They have however become complacent while they milk the GTA Online cow to death. Their creative output is also very disappointing, and they need to do something to pick up the pace of their releases.

[Knightofelemia]

If it takes them a while to pop out great games that are not as buggy then no I like what Rockstar is doing. Wish LA Noire would get a sequel. Ubisoft pushing back South Park was a good call to half their games are buggy and glitchy and clunky. So if GTA 6 comes out and runs as smooth as GTA 5 I will buy it all though it will be hard to create a character that matches Trevor.

[Artemidorus]

Intelligence is showing, Rockstar are sitting on a large fortune and success.

They also don't provide yearly trash like the others. You are also forgetting a new game is comming 2018.

[Rambokind]

Uh, their last game sold something like 25 million copies. They don't need to make games every year.

[MrSec84]

GTAV has apparently sold 3X that much, they're also rolling in cash from the game's DLC.
No doubt RD2 will top their sales estimates and when the next GTA releases they'll at least sell half of GTAV's numbers before they even touch next gen.

[jagermaster619]

No they are to busy milking gta 5 I mean come on let that thing die already. I cannot wait for rdr2, they need to move forward and stop with this micro transactions but they already got the taste of blood in there mouths. I just really hope they focus more on the next title instead of a last gen game.

[ziggurcat]

Also - 5 years is probably a short development cycle for these guys...

[RosweeSon]

Yeah 80 million copies of GTA5 sold how will they cope haha.

[MrSec84]

If GTAV has sold 75 million units in 4 years then the studio have averaged 18.75 million units per year, there aren't many publishers that have sold as much software as Rockstar have and while RD2 has been delayed it will no doubt move that average higher, when the next GTA launches it will probably do the same.

[IIFloodyII]

4 of those studios are just there to count all the money GTA Online brings in, another is incontrol of the rubber band supply to make sure it's all nice and tidy.

No, R* is not in trouble.

[Chumdiddy]

Yeah, no. No they're not. A game they released 5 years ago won't leave the top-10 in sales....after doing the same with every game released the last 15-20 years.

They're good.

[joab777]

Uh...No! They don't just put out games Willy nilly. GTA5 is a template for their future. It's sold an absurd number of copies and yet they have made more off of the mp than from the 80 million sold copies. It's absurd!

[richyque]

Them f#kig sharkcards selling like crazy is the sole reason rockstar can wait 5 years to make games. Sucks really , but thats the truth.

[lio_convoy]

Oh noes!!!! Teh dramaz! They will bust!

...a gut laughing at this speculation. They're fine.

Next.

[Prince_TFK]

Lol at the clickbait title. GTA V is still in the top 5 list of top game being sold every month after all these years so I doubt they are worry about anything.

[sKiiTs8]

Just because they don't pump out yearly games like Ubishit, doesn't mean they're in trouble. They're the only devs, maybe with naughty dog and fromsoft, who are consistently making GOTY games.

[DJ]

Eh, quality over quantity. Rockstar games sell very well, and for good reason.

[bacrec1]

HAHAHAHA!

[g-nome]

haha funny with GTAV still in the top sellers charts

[DJ_Professor_K]

Rockstar didn't just start making games relax

[daBUSHwhaka]

Its what you call polish.More developers should do the same instead of releasing half assed piss just to be patched for months maybe years...

[HardcoreHDGamer]

Rockstar would be the only game company that has no concern with money. They are loaded.

[chris235]

i don't get the headline of this article. it should be clear that rockstar has been making all their money from the online mode of gta5 during the past few years. as strange and absurd this sounds to me personally they are still making tonloads of money of this online mode.

[Exvalos]

Has the content creator even seen the sales of gta 5, and I'm not even factoring in the online, rockstar is just fine.

[Inzo]

Wow there are allot of people on this site who dont know how big business functions. GTA has sold 75 million copies so these guys are drowning in the cash, right? Maybe they are maybe they arent, I dont know. What I do know is that thats not necessarily how the business world operates.

[GrmpyolGamer]

Only need 1 game when it sells 80 million copies and does $1 billion in microtransactions

[PressPlayBros]

LMAO one of the dumbest titles in N4G history. Do you want Rockstar to become some EA / Ubisoft annual BS unfinished turd of a game shitting engine?

[mad-dog]

Nah, not going to read.

[Saijahn]

they create high quality games and bank on their resume rather than pumping out crappy titles on a yearly basis like some other big studios.

[IceKoldKilla]

Nope. They confirmed how GTA Online was such a sudden huge success that they put all teams on it and stopped working on other stuff including GTA V Story DLC. They said this years ago. It's making them so much money. Didn't Shark Cards make them like half a billion dollars up until April 2016? Yeah, that crazy.

[FITSniper]

They made over a billion dollars in sales alone from GTA V and are still making money off of it. I think they're fine.

[paseirek]

Actually don't know

[gazgriff2k12]

gta online shark cards say loooooooooooolllllllllllllllll lll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DEEHULK88]

Please stop with these click bait articles

[terrorofdeath]

Is Rockstar making heaps of money from their IPs? Yes. Are they in trouble? Absolutely not.

[Wolfgang187]

Their last game is old as fuck by game standards (4 fucking years!) and still in the top 10 games sold every month, so they're doing just fine.

[deitis]

lol, GTAV is still on the top revenue charts YEARS after its release. This argument is ridiculous. Why make a new game when they can make more GTAV content and rake in the cash? RDR2 is coming as well...

[KickSpinFilter]

RUHI?

[Psychotica]

Well since they were fine after 2 or 3 years, chances are they are doing something right to let them survive 5 years.

[Pancit_Canton]

I probably more worried about MS gaming division than Rockstar games.

[fingazblank]

I still play gta 5, from 360-x1-pc, i dabble with the single play still and love gta 5 online. Stupid article, masterpieces take years, just sit back and wait for the goodies.

[mkis007]

GTA5 still sells like new game 5 years later so ....nope!

[StarkR3ality]

Consistently make record breaking game of the year contenders that sell millions upon millions..

I think they're going to be okay, I would rather wait 4 or 5 years for an amazing game from a company than a game every year that's boring, dull and out of ideas.

*Cough* COD, assassin's creed *cough*

[Nodoze]

Keep in mind they fired Leslie Benzies. He was a MAJOR creative force behind the first RDR, and was the one who brokered the GTA V online (when the Houser brothers were BOTH against it). Now fast forward to now and GTA V online is a jewel in the crown, and is a PRIMARY revenue generator for them. Never would have happened without Benzies.

Also keep in mind that without Benzies we may never have had a RDR (or at the very least not the version we played due to the bugs and issues). The Housers were experiencing major issues and rumour has it were considering pulling the plug.

Perhaps his absence is really having a much more significant impact than they let on.