Gamers are still talking about Grand Theft Auto VI despite all the big reveals that happened last night during The Game Awards. It’s unsurprising as plenty of fans eagerly anticipated this title release. That also prompted a ton of videos to surface online, whether that was videos reacting to the footage or breakdowns of content we might have missed. Regardless, those who wanted to dive into the game have likely watched more than a few of these videos. One of which was likely Mike York, a former developer for Rockstar Games who offered some new insight into the game.
Now, Mike York was a former animator for Rockstar Games who had worked on titles like Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2. His comments were quickly taken and spread online for others to view. However, Mike has since taken another video to express his insights further. For instance, Mike simply noted that this is an assumption on his part because he no longer works at Rockstar Games. As a result, Mike doesn’t know what the studio is up to with this installment and that he’s just enjoying this franchise as a fan again.
One of the comments made was the fact that this footage we’re seeing is all in-game. There’s nothing here that Mike feels is pre-rendered. But that doesn’t mean the footage we’re seeing is what we’ll see when the game launches. For instance, Mike noted that game developers have ways to make cutscenes better than what players get when going through the game freely. One tactic developers use is limiting the content found. That could mean stopping NPCs spawning in the immediate area or removing how many cars can be seen. That allows developers to really bring out more detail to the cutscene.
Furthermore, there are typically two character models. You’ll have one that will be in-game, which you can run up to and see. Then, there are models for cutscenes that might have a little more detail. Again, Mike is just speculating as to what is going on here with this trailer, but having years of work put into the game industry, he has a better idea of what might be happening.
Currently, Grand Theft Auto VI is set to release on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles at launch. However, we don’t have a release date yet attached to the game. Instead, the developers are only slated to see this title launch at some point in 2025.
