Ex-Rockstar dev on GTA 6: "I'm pretty happy I'm not on it"

"There is a magic to what Rockstar does," former GTA 5 dev says ahead of GTA 6, "I just wish they could do it at a lower human cost"

Saw this quote floating around from a former GTA 5 developer and it's stuck with me. They said there's a "magic" to what Rockstar does, but they wish it could happen without such a brutal human cost. Then they dropped the line: "I think I'm pretty happy that I'm not on GTA 6."

It's one of those things where you're hyped for the game but you also remember all the stories from the RDR2 crunch. 100-hour weeks, rewritten scripts, the whole thing. And that was years ago. GTA 6 is supposed to be even bigger, so you have to wonder what the last few years have been like for the team.

I'm not here to moralize. We all know Rockstar's output is on another level. But hearing a former dev basically say "no thanks" to being part of it again is a little sobering. Makes you think about what we're actually asking for when we demand these massive, polished worlds every time.

Do you think the industry will ever find a way to make games like this without burning people out, or is the "magic" always going to come at a price?

Source: GamesRadar+ · Curated content.