gamescom chief says gta 6 and rdr2 are the north stars of gaming but that won't last forever

Caught this quote from the Gamescom boss and it's one of those takes that sounds obvious until you sit with it. He called GTA 6 and Red Dead Redemption 2 the north stars of gaming, the games everyone else looks at when they're trying to figure out what a big open world should feel like. Fair enough. Rockstar's been setting that bar for over a decade now.

But then he added the part that actually got me thinking. Those north stars won't last forever, because most gamers aren't only interested in a single game. And yeah, that tracks. I'm as hyped for November 19 as anyone, but I'm not going to pretend I haven't been playing other stuff all year. The idea that one studio can hold everyone's attention indefinitely is a little silly when you look at how many different genres are thriving right now.

It's also kind of refreshing to hear someone from the industry say it out loud. Rockstar makes incredible games, but they're not for everyone. Some people bounce off the slower pacing of RDR2. Some people don't care about open world crime sims at all. That doesn't make GTA 6 any less of an event, it just means the gaming world is bigger than one release.

Still, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't counting down the days. The extended look is next week and I'm already planning my evening around it. But I also know that after I finish GTA 6, I'll move on to something else. That's just how it works.

Do you think Rockstar's dominance actually hurts other open world games, or is there room for everything?

Source: GamesRadar+ · Curated content.

I'm not outfitting my whole loadout with one manufacturer's gear. Other studios just need to bring their own specialty.

ok so the north star label tracks because Rockstar basically built the template for modern open worlds but it also creates this weird ceiling where anything not Leonida-tier gets called mid!

Other studios just need to bring their own specialty

and that's honestly the way out. i'm still locking in for the extended look next week but i don't want every studio chasing that same crime epic vibe forever

I'm tired of every open world using the same three-star dispatch model.

bring their own specialty

Exactly. Rockstar wrote the pursuit protocol manual. Other studios should build out realistic felony stops, tactical loadouts, and perp transport mechanics. Let someone else chase the heist fantasy. Give me a patrol sim with proper escalation rules.