•Former Rockstar Game vice-president and writer of Max Payne 3, Dan Houser, has admitted that he got the critical reception to his game completely wrong.
In an interview with IGN as part of its IGN30 Icons Series, Houser said he believed he had delivered a strong entry in the series but was surprised by how players responded. Despite earning positive reviews on release in 2012, Max Payne 3 underperformed commercially and divided fans.
“It was a linear game, so it was a little different from writing an open-world game, a little more structured,” Houser said. “I really enjoyed that as an experience. I loved what we did design-wise, the way the game didn’t have loads, the way it felt like a 12-hour movie, some of the visual stuff we did with words on screen. I felt we were creating a really cool digital noir experience, and the consensus at the time was that people hated it.”
“So I got that completely wrong,” Houser admitted. “I know Sam Lake [creator of Max Payne] well, and he’s a very good guy and really talented. I thought we’d done a good job of doing another Max Payne game. Some people liked it; lots didn’t. So we got it wrong, or I got it wrong. I failed. My bit was not a success.”
Houser said the game remains “beautifully made” but fell short of its potential commercial success.
“I would say a large amount of that failure was on me as one of the people making the decisions and also as the writer, when people really missed his writing,” he added.
Max Payne and its sequel, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, were among the most influential third-person shooters of their era, establishing Finnish developer Remedy Entertainment. Houser joined Rockstar after co-writing Max Payne 3, which moved the character to Brazil.
The shift in tone drew some criticism at the time, with observers questioning whether the more action-heavy approach fit the noir-influenced predecessors made by Remedy’s New York-set games.
Houser is now watching Rockstar prepare for the launch of GTA 6, which is due out on November 19. Meanwhile, Remedy has been working on remakes of the first two Max Payne games.
“full production” and that the “collaboration with Rockstar Game remains close and productive.”
The studio last updated players on the project over a year ago, when it said development was underway. Houser has previously said he will not be playing GTA 6.
full interview with Rockstar co-studio head Rob Nelson
the game will tackle the current political climate
why Dan Houser says he won’t be playing it
1 comment