A bizarre little Twitter thread has made people realise that there are other ways to conduct a remote business meeting that isn’t Zoom or Skype. Sure, those apps have proven essential for workers navigating through the COVID-19 pandemic but let’s be honest: There isn’t a person alive who actually enjoys those kinds of meetings. What are you meant to do with your hands? Can people see that you’re not wearing pants? Can you even hear me? These are all frustrating factors that would be way easier if you worked with a bunch of cowboys. Fortunately, there’s a way you can kinda do that…
As reported by Rock, Paper, Shotgun some businesses have been using Red Dead Redemption 2 Online to conduct their meetings. After publishing a rather excellent thread of tweets on the topic, writer and illustrator Viv Schwarz spoke to RPS about how meeting around a virtual campfire was the best thing her workforce had done. “Mostly we were just having a really crap time,” said Viv. “We were having to deal with all those Zoom and Skype meetings and emails and phone calls… and we were just feeling worse and worse and more annoyed all the time.”
Zoom sucks, we started having editorial meetings in Red Dead Redemption instead. It's nice to sit at the campfire and discuss projects, with the wolves howling out in the night
— Viviane Schwarz (@vivschwarz) May 16, 2020
Thus, Red Dead Redemption 2 Online became the new meeting spot. “The thing is,” Viv explained, “the Cowboys just look right when they’re sitting around the campfire? They look like they’re in a meeting: scratching noses and frowning, and occasionally gesturing.” You can even go for coffee breaks in the game and spend some time washing and scrubbing their faces to make sure they’re presentable. When the meeting ends, everyone just hops on their horse and rides off into the sunset, “which is a lot less awkward than everyone smiling at the camera while they’re trying to sign off,” says Viv.
Look, hosting business meetings in RDR 2 does have some downsides. You’ll have to use a third-party voice chat app for the best audio experience and there’s always a chance you get ambushed by a rival posse at the worst possible moment. Still, adds a little excitement to the day job, right?
Probably not worth hosting meetings with important clients in RDR 2, but for those smaller, quirkier businesses that have the time to trek through the online portion’s lengthy tutorial, it could certainly be a great deal of fun for everyone involved. A change in scenery is great for creative juices, after all. It’s honestly the perfect marriage between boring work and a game that’s even more boring to play.