Rockstar Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, has maintained its status as one of the leading game development studios for two decades thanks to blockbusters like GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2. Recently, in a YouTube video on his personal channel, former environment artist David O'Reilly — who spent twelve years at Rockstar North — explained what really drives the British studio's sustained success.
A journey through three generations of hits
David O'Reilly worked at Rockstar North from 2011 to 2023, contributing to GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, and the upcoming GTA VI. According to him, he is frequently asked about the secret behind the studio's success, and his answer is straightforward: caring for employees and avoiding the mass layoff cycles prevalent throughout the gaming industry.
Institutional knowledge as the ultimate asset
O'Reilly estimates that this approach allowed Rockstar to preserve «virtually all of its institutional knowledge» over the past 27 years. The team still includes veterans who date back to DMA Design, the studio's name prior to its rebranding in 2002. «Your long-term employees are the institutional knowledge base,» the former developer emphasized, adding that major publishers like Sony and Microsoft «don't understand» this principle because they prioritize money over games themselves.
An imperfect workplace
At the same time, O'Reilly did not paint Rockstar as an ideal employer. In recent months, the studio has been dealing with the fallout from firing employees who discussed confidential information on a public platform. Final hearings on the matter are scheduled for November 17 and 18, right on the eve of the GTA VI release.
GTA VI release and commercial context
GTA VI is set to launch on November 19, 2026, primarily for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The release arrives amid fresh quarterly figures from Take-Two: as of September 30, 2026, Red Dead Redemption 2 sales have surpassed 89 million copies, the entire Red Dead Redemption franchise exceeds 118 million copies, and GTA 5 has reached nearly 235 million copies since its 2013 debut. It is against this massive commercial backdrop that O'Reilly's insights into Rockstar's development culture carry extra weight.
