Red Dead Redemption 2: The inside story of the most lifelike video game ever

GQ go behind the scenes on Rockstar Games' most ambitious project ever.

[coffeemaster]

People would probably get offended over every little thing in GTA 6 lol

[MoshA]

Im worried about Bully 2.
Unlike GTA it's actually interesting.

[Count_Bakula]

I hope/can't wait for R* to slice and dice college campus culture right now. Thin-skinned whimps. R* is untouchable to me like South Park. Don't be swayed by these selfish, entitled brats. Keep making your fiction and entertainment.

[petisobew]

I’m making over $17k a month working part time. I kept hearing other people tell me how much money they can make online so I decided to look into it. Well, it was all true and has totally changed my life. This is where i started
http://www.Key70.com

[michaelknight35]

What a dumb thing to say

[Dfooster]

It's becoming cool to hate on gta. It won't work

[Ashunderfire86]

With the recent school shootings Bully 2 may not be a good idea. I would hate for that game to take the blame.

[b163o1]

Guy's we are missing a major point, a founding member of R* just said GTA 6! That let's us know that a story is being discussed, and it is alive. Granted it's still in its infancy, but that's big IMO...

[RizBiz]

@Dfooster If GTA V was actually great I wouldn't hate on it. Unfortunately it's an empty game that's still missing content that was promised before launch. It isn't terrible; it's a decent 6/10 experience. 100% of their focus went into GTA Online (ironic, since it was garbage when it first launched... though I suppose it still is....), which left the base game extremely lacking.

[ChrisW]

Bully was boring. I gave it a good try, but it just didn't catch my attention.

GTA has one thing that triumphs over Bully... Open world. The ability to do anything you wanted when you were temporarily bored with the main game.

[Soc5]

Actually maybe that's a good thing, it would offend some people sure, but it would get so much publicity that it would sell a ton, like most pieces of media/entertainment that make the news. Think of everything the politicians are getting away with these days, people get offended, talk about it a little and then move on, without any real repercussions. Maybe it would be just like that and they would make a ton of cash just for being offensive. I mean that has been their move in the past.

[Forn]

There will be somebody somewhere that will get offended at something in RDR2 as well.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Remember that hot cofee mod thing, yeah... It'll be worse for more minor things.

[DarXyde]

GTA V went after liberals pretty hard. Ever watch the superhero tv show Impotent Rage? Dear lord, that was incredible.

I don't think Rockstar should care, honestly. I get that politics are highly polarized right now, but this is a great age to laugh at everyone: in this case, liberals are whiners and conservatives are insane. Plenty of jabs to go around. And is Rockstar really pretending they can't update the radio stations to vibe with current news? Even if it's a few weeks later, the jokes will keep coming.

[RabbitFly]

You think impotent rage went after liberals?

And you think that somehow makes the game go after liberals?

I guess you cant really blame people for not getting it. Gta has always been misunderstood in its appeal.

Gta has always been anti-American on its satire. No matter which way the pendelum swings.

I do think calling a game that features characters like trevor anti-liberal quite ironic though

[DarXyde]

RabbitFly,

That was a specific example of GTA V going after liberals. And yeah, I would definitely say Impotent Rage went after liberals. It went after Clinton too on the radio stations.

In no way am I suggesting they're being partisan.

[Tross]

@coffeemaster All the more reason why GTA 6 has to happen.

[Orionsangel]

RDR2 will give us a good idea of where Rockstar is headed with GTA6 in terms of graphics and interaction with the AI.

[fluxmulder]

He's got a point. Imagine releasing GTA5.. or even something like Manhunt.. in today's SJW outrage culture.

[Nyxus]

He's talking about both sides:

"Both intense liberal progression and intense conservatism are both very militant, and very angry."

[generic-user-name]

Yeah but you're free (and encouraged) to criticise the right by the main stream media, not so much the other way around.

[2pacalypsenow]

That’s because the mainstream media and Hollywood are run by liberals.

[Count_Bakula]

and R* shouldn't give any sort of a shit either. All fiction is allowed to exist. People need to take responsibility like the rest of us and simply not engage something if it bothers you. Don't. Fucking. Buy it. if you know it's not something you'd like. People right now want things to not exist because it bothers them. That shit's simply insane.

[bloop]

If only it were like that, only the idiots that don't like it don't want you to buy it either for some reason. I really do worry for the future of GTA games though. There's so much insanity over everything these days I can only imagine the circus that will surround GTA 6 when it drops.

[michaelknight35]

So true

[PhantomS42]

Jeez, yeah. Manhunt got a lot of heat with both releases, it wouldn't survive in this day and age.

[sander9702]

Seem like you forgot the outrage over hookers in GTA V and the fact that you could kill them. Oh boy that was something...

[hench07]

So no new GTA till Trump is out of office.

Thanks America...

[thatguyhayat]

Meh its ok cause they're hinting bully 2 but im worried if they attack that game

[No Way]

Well, I'd certainly would be in line for a Bully 2. No question.

[ger2396]

That's right, anything goes wrong blame Trump. Progressives have found their ultimate scapegoat for their shortcomings and failures.

[ChrisW]

Thanks Obama!

[PhantomS42]

With how long their devs cycles are getting we will probably we two Presidents after Trump is out.

[annoyedgamer]

Orange man bad.

OT: GTAIV was called sexist, so not sure how he is to blame for that.

[Concertoine]

Damn, have to wait 6 years.

[Highlife]

Actually that would be SJW's not trump.

[jznrpg]

It’s the extreme on both sides

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

Can't see what Trump would have against gta.

[thenotoriousone]

Yeah, too many babies out there now. There just isn't the tolerance out there for people to speak their minds and have a laugh.

[Nebaku]

People say that and yet it couldn't be further from the truth. Trump himself is a prime example that you can say whatever you want now, with zero ramifications for doing so.

There is simply too many wild opinions out there for anyone to be truly offended by anything.

[BlackTar187]

You must live in a different country.

[2pacalypsenow]

Are you serious?

People have been kicked out of restaurant because they don't agree with that that person does or says lol.

Only difference between Trump and previous presidents is that Trump doesn't sugar coat what he says, he just flat out tells it how he sees it, and people aren't ready for that type of president so it shocks them. And lets be honest, Trump could cure cancer and people would still criticize him over it.

If anything, it's much worse now, peoples life's can be ruined overnight over baseless claims.

[BlackTar187]

I don't care about disagrees but on this, I find them funny. This country is being ruined by policing of speech in all forms. The Ole Trump says bad things doesn't justify or erase all the other stuff that is 100% happening. People are having their lives ruined for saying something insensitive and regardless of how you feel about what they say you should never stand for such repercussions.

[uth11]

Trump is one of the few who can get away with it

we still have daily examples of people losing jobs, sponsorships, getting doxxed, harassed for things they said years ago, things taken out of context, etc.

[chiefJohn117]

No ramifications? You won't go to jail no but don't think nothing is gonna happen to you lol.

[2pacalypsenow]

Wait so you mean people haven't done this since GTA 3?

Grand Theft Auto has always caused controversy, It has nothing to do with Trump and all to do with social media. Information is a lot easier to distribute, which is why every little things gets blown out of proportion, because you get a bunch of idiots to retweet you and make it viral.

Trump wining just made those people go into overdrive because they thought their opinions and feeling mattered, and when they realized no one cares, they're throwing massive tantrums and social media gives them a platform to vent. Just look at the news, when they don't get their way they protest and attack people who don't agree with them (verbally and physically), they will continue to do this until they get their way, if you think it's bad now, just wait...

You have someone offended by everything today, and social media gives them a platform to publicly whine and cry.

[michaelknight35]

Now this i agree with you 2pac we do live in a pc world now days

[chiefJohn117]

To a degree yes but not entirely cause ppl didn't act like that with Bush or Clinton. Ppl hate Trump cause he's rude and blunt and many feels he's racist or sexist. Obama had hate cause well ...he was black. He received hate day 1 and he didn't even say anything to piss ppl off unlike Trump. There simply haven't been such an outspoken president so ppl are gonna feel some type of way on a greater level.

[Smokehouse]

Why? What makes it different now then any other time? Are the left going to stop being insane when Trumps 8 years is done?

[PhantomS42]

One presidential term is four years. They can win a second term for another four, but they need to be liked enough or even make it through the first to get to that second election. At this rate, if Trump isn't impeached he is in no position to win anything.

[Smokehouse]

Lmao um ok.... impeached for what? He will win a 2nd term, easily.

[uth11]

the only person who can beat Trump is someone who baits the media better than he doea

[Smokehouse]

@uth
Nah nobody can beat him now. It was one thing when he was all talk in 2016. He has realized most of his campaign promises in 2 years. He is running on results not Twitter outrage. That’s unheard of from any modern politician, either side lol.

I respect Trump a lot more now than I did when he was a liberal New York democrat. Not anymore lol. Not after they tried and fail to destroy him. I never liked Kavanaugh either, he was the one who whispered to John Roberts about the individual mandate. He turned a penalty into a tax. Rewriting statues on the bench is unconstitutional, it’s not their job. The ACA should have been sent back to congress. Now I know he will be a good Supreme Court Justice because he knows exactly what he’s up against, he knows what’s at stake and he saw first hand who these people are. I wouldn’t choose anybody else now. I hated Trump too, now I will miss him when he’s gone. In 6 years.

[2pacalypsenow]

Trump is one of the few presidents who actually followed through with majority of the things he said he would do during his campaign.

But like everything else “he says mean things” so the media ignores it, and focuses on how much McDonald’s he eats.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

I actually like Trump more than Hilary, the fact he's doing a decent job is gravy.

[chiefJohn117]

Trump will likely be reelected if he doesn't get himself impeached.

[chiefJohn117]

Probably cause the right stopped after Obama was done. Just look at the reactions from the left when Trump won then look at the reactions of the right when Obama did. It's identical lol

[Smokehouse]

I don’t remember the right breaking down into tears when Obama got elected. I don’t remember the media having a nervous breakdown for 2 years when Obama got elected. I don’t remember people clawing at the Supreme Court doors and screeching like banshees when Obama appointed leftist hacks to the Supreme Court. It’s not identical, the modern left is pure nutso. Especially their so called leaders.

[kingfortoday]

"Rockstar’s satirical take on the American life in GTA might not work as well in 2018 as it did back in 2015 with GTA 4:"

Cant take it serious. Gta 4 in 2015?

[MajorLazer]

Piss poor journalism. No GTA even released in 2015, and GTA IV released 7 years before 2015 :/

[Kabaneri]

Don't blame Trump, blame the fascist left.

[comebackkid9891]

Political violence does not equal Fascism and Fascism is neither left nor right, it's a third position.

[Profchaos]

I hope this is an indication of GTA returning to a time period in the future.
Like another vice city or San Andreas would be fantastic.

But I guess most modern GTA titles become a period piece after a while look a IV just before the age of smartphones Nikko had a colour screen and Roman made a huge deal about it.

[Lonnie18]

...and if Trump wins again? Will you wait forever?

[2pacalypsenow]

These people think once Trump is done being president everything will go back to "normal" lol, the seed's already been planted.

[michaelknight35]

I can see trump getting 4 more years as president

[-Foxtrot]

Doesn’t have to be set in the present they could go back to the 80s since Vice City should be next

[Profchaos]

I would absolutely love another 80's or 90's period GTA Especially Vice city since it's the only HD era city we never actually saw.

Plus the soundtracks are always better in the period GTA games their timeless tracks compared to what we see in modern gta titles (they still have great songs don't get me wrong but not all of them stick around to be classics 30 years later).

[WitcheRivia]

I'm sure it will be just as trash as the last two & filled with more microtransactions anyway. GTA has long been a shell of its former self (and Rockstar as a whole for that matter).

[akbennyewu]

If a game like GTA VI send us to civil war, so be it, we would deserve to fail and fall as a society because of how outraged we have all become.

If this was militant terrorists threatening an attack over the release of this game or because of our way of life, we would defiantly produce and ship the title as a show of solidarity. But yet in our own society we tip toe around and walk on eggshells out of fear of riling up and offending a person, group, or class with an opposing or different view. Weird how united we can be at times and how absolutely divided we can be when there isn't a big external threat.

[Skankinruby]

I've always maintained that GTA 5 was insanely overrated but if they mocked Trump in GTA 6 I would take all of it back lol

[bigmalky]

I would buy ten copies of a game that parodied all the dumb stuff people like you say on N4G every day...

[cyphertech]

If GTA made fun of Trump people would call it SJW propaganda.

[generic-user-name]

And if it didn't they'd call it toothless and a wasted opportunity like Polygon did for Far Cry 5.

[cyclindk]

Not to mention the blackhole that would be created from releasing two megaton games in such close proximity to one another.

[BlaqMagiq1]

I'm gonna be perfectly honest here. R* really should not give a shit about real world politics. At. All. Remember when real world politics tried to attack these games during the PS2 era? Not only did they fail but one of the games in the series is now the best selling game of all time.

Also, the game is fiction. Is it really their fault people can't tell the distinction between reality and fiction? They should release one regardless of who's in office, regardless of the state of politics. Let gamers enjoy games for what they are. And let the idiots continue to speak on things they know nothing about.

[AK91]

Ya GTA has always been about making fun of Americans and their culture and considering how easily triggered Americans get these days, I don't think we'll see a another GTA game in a while.

Also did GTA 4 come out in 2015? You might wanna do some fact checking their Twinfinite.

[Profchaos]

Yeah i laughed at the date no one obviously knows how to google gta 4 2008 even gta 5 was 2013. I think 2015 saw v get ported to the pc but that's it.

[AK91]

You are 100% correct because that’s not only when GTA 5 came to PC but also when GTA Online took off and is still a financial success to this day.

[Dixiedevil]

I just got done replaying GTA V. SJWs would flip their shit if something like that came out now. Hopefully, they don’t pull their punches and make the same over the top game they’ve always made, with 6. One of these days the industry’s going to realize that these loud crybaby pansies have very little effect on sales of their games if the game is good.

[Profchaos]

And to think it only came out 5 years ago.

[Cmoney007]

It is sad that thinking for yourself has become a big problem. It is never good to listen to everything the media tells you. Seeing college students acting this way in person is quite a sight to see.

[KillZallthebeast]

One can only hope there will somehow be a saints row 5. I need to ride around in my dildozer and participate in gimp chariot races renderd in glorious 4k

[Tross]

Screw Donald, and screw people who get offended over every last, stupid thing regardless of political leaning. If anything, the current (and incredibly retarded) political climate could use more satire, especially of the brand that GTA has built its name on. It's sad if even Rockstar is walking on eggshells out of fear of offending people. Are we really letting morons rob us from having nice things? Is that really the current state of things? I can't help but feel that the best remedy for the current era is for a company to have the stones to offend a lot of people (but not those with working brains), and then respond with a middle finger when some whiners cry about it. How did easily offended people survive the late 90s and 2000s, come to think of it? That said, there are plenty of GTAs, and it's high time for another RDR (which I hope won't walk on eggshells).

[Davros69]

I'm a bit disheartened. I'm hoping for GTA6 Vice City. What has today's political climate got to do with 1980's ?

[Chris_Wray]

He isn't wrong - the US at the moment is in a constant state of one-upping itself. Here in the UK we aren't much better, but yeah.

[ShinRon]

that gets me hype for the satire in gta 6, gta has been the funniest series in gaming

[ziratul]

Does RDR2 have brothels? Won't buy the game it if it doesn't.

[howiewowwee]

Well of course he is...He would not want to release both gta6 and rdr2 at the same because it would be overload. duh...$$

[CrowdNex]

Interesting.

[neon95]

its just Awesome!!!!

[william_cade]

People can't just shoot shit in games anymore ahahahaahah - anyway I really want to play this

[Orionsangel]

One critic described RDR2 as "a decisive moment in the history of Western civilization" Another critic wrote: "Playing RDR2 one thinks not simply of the history of popular video games but the history of the 19th century." This critic said "a historic departure in the progress of video games – any video game"

[chiefJohn117]

Plz R* gimme a black guy story dlc. (Ppl get pissed at me wanting this for some reason lol) this is the perfect opportunity to do something gaming hasn't ever done. Black guy outlaw in the 1800s!!! dawg let DJango get his story in a video game. Now is the time plz. Just do it

[Elda]

I co sign your thoughts.

[Vizigoth04]

Actions speak louder than words. Rockstar just makes incredible games without show boat and trying to pull in fame. Good work Rockstar.

[bigmalky]

The best way to end the outrage era, is to keep outraging people. They'll either get bored and stop or they'll all have aneurisms and heart attacks for nothing.

People need to stop being so thin skinned and offended at the slightest things.