Manhunt 2 – the story so far
Whether you are following Game industry related news or not, chances are you have heard about the never-ending controversy around the “Manhunt” franchise of Rockstar Games, one of my former employers.
Jurie, an ex-coworker at Rockstar Vienna blogged about the latest unfortunate “chapter” – the fact that Rockstar Vienna employees who worked for over 2 years on Manhunt 2, the sequel to the game developed by Rockstar North, were not mentioned in the game’s credits. For the record, having worked there myself, I fully agree and support Jurie’s statements.
A lot of online media jumped onto it and quoted his post, but only some of them (like Austrian national broadcaster ORF) actually raised an issue that I find interesting: The game industry keeps comparing itself with the film industry, and Rockstar in particular never got tired telling everybody that they are the ones pushing the envelope, getting games accepted as a form of contempary art, etc. I vividly remember one evening with Sam Houser in a New York City Restaurant, where he explained me (and the others on our table) his view on how to change this society to take notice and respect “us”. Ahem.
But at the same time, most companies in that field fail to accept responsibility and the standards coming from other creative industries, see no priority in providing professional working conditions, and serious project management. Oh, and taking financial and social responsibility. I have yet to see so many instances of incompetence, ego, mismanagement, burned cash and burned-out employees in multi million dollar budget projects in other industries.
> in a New York City Restaurant
Not that it matters in any way, but I think it was Lure Fishbar on Mercer Street.
nah, it was some hyped indian place (with really good food – they told me mr h. is well known for ordering a large variety of dishes in absurd quantities… and he did!)
i assume he held that speech a couple of times, because AFAIR you weren’t coming along when i was in NYC.