Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser blames himself for Max Payne 3 – “a large amount of that failure was on me”

Dan Houser, Rockstar co-founder and lead writer of Max Payne 3, says he takes much of the responsibility for the game’s failure to meet expectations. He enjoyed shaping it as a linear, 12-hour “digital noir” experience, but said many players missed the writing of original creator Sam Lake.

The game was critically acclaimed, and its visual style and gunplay drew both praise and criticism. Take-Two described sales as lower than expected; the shortfall contributed mainly to a $110 million loss in that financial quarter. Remedy and Rockstar later reunited to remake the first two Max Payne games, which Remedy said had entered full production.