Inside Look at the Team Behind RDR2

Max ComperatoreMax Comperatore
3 min read

In this blog post, we delve into the composition of the development team behind Red Dead Redemption 2, examining roles, seniority, and departmental structures. For comprehensive details, visit: Rockstar Games Red Dead Online Thank You Page.

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A donut chart titled "Departments" showing the distribution of resources. Art leads with 25.5%, followed by QA at 20.3%, Engineering at 16.7%, Animation at 13.8%, Design at 11.1%, Production at 5.2%, Localisation at 3.4%, Data at 1.7%, and Audio at 1.2%.

A doughnut chart titled "Studios" shows the distribution of different studios. India leads with 27.2% (1288), followed by North with 19.5% (924). Other notable sections include Lincoln at 14.4% (684), R* Games at 12.8% (607), and San Diego at 10% (474). Remaining studios include Toronto (3.9% - 219), New England (3.3% - 219), Leeds (3% - 174), London (2% - 116), and R* International (1.6% - 74).

A 3D donut chart titled "Hierarchy" showing the distribution of roles within an organization. The roles and their corresponding percentages are: Senior (32%), Associate (26.3%), Lead (13%), Director (6.3%), Manager (5.7%), Principal (6.2%), Assistant (2.6%), Admin (2.9%), and Support (1.6%). The chart is color-coded with each role represented by a different color and labeled with both the role and the number of individuals in that role.

Departments:

A donut chart titled "Animation Department" showing the distribution of different animation categories. Categories with percentages and their respective segment counts are: Gameplay (34.3%, 144), Face (19.8%, 83), Cinematics (13.1%, 55), Scripted (11.9%, 50), Motion Capture (11.7%, 49), Ambient (7.9%, 33), and Mixed Media (1.4%, 6).

A colorful donut chart titled "Engineering Department" depicts various job roles and their respective percentages. The largest segments are Software Engineer at 14.8% (81), followed by Tools Programmer at 14.3% (78), and Gameplay Programmer at 11.9% (65). Other roles include Systems Engineer, Engine Programmer, Graphics Programmer, AI Programmer, Network Programmer, Animation Programmer, Frontend Engineer, Data Engineer, UI Programmer, and Physics Programmer, with smaller percentages.

A donut chart titled "Localization Department" showing the distribution of languages. Chinese has 16.3%, Korean has 14.4%, Polish has 10.6%, Russian has 9.6%, German has 9.6%, Japanese has 9.6%, Italian has 8.7%, Spanish has 7.7%, Portuguese has 6.7%, and French has 6.7%. Each segment has a corresponding label with the count and percentage.

A doughnut chart titled "QA Department" shows the composition of QA roles. Testers make up 88.2% (756) depicted in blue, while Leads/Engineers make up 11.8% (101) depicted in red.

Key Takeaways

  • Overall Workforce Reduction: The RDR2 development team was approximately 937 people smaller than the GTA V team, marking a 17% decrease. Total personnel for RDR2 was 4,741 compared to 5,678 for GTA V.

  • Department Composition: RDR2 featured a higher proportion of artists relative to testers compared to GTA V.

  • Testing Focus: The majority of testers for RDR2 were based in Rockstar India.

  • Studio Size: Rockstar Dundee is the smallest studio in terms of workforce.

  • Localization: On average, there are 10.4 localizers per language.

  • Associate-Junior Ratio: The ratio of Associates to Juniors stands at 469:13.

  • Leadership Structure: There are more Vice Presidents than Junior staff, with each QA Lead managing 7-10 testers and one Director overseeing every five Seniors.

For a detailed view of the data, access the spreadsheet here: Development Team Breakdown Spreadsheet.

Note: While this data has been carefully reviewed, some inaccuracies may still be present. It includes contractors and other roles, but it may not capture every individual detail. Enjoy the insights!

What aspect of the RDR2 development team structure surprised you the most? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to your insights. Until next time!

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Max Comperatore
Max Comperatore