I cannot imagine what it feels like to know that GTA 6 is actually about to drop for the developers making it. It’s 13 years of work and anticipation, finally coming to fruition, and on the back of the Netflix preview, a number of Rockstar devs have expressed their emotions.
“What a day – everything looks incredible. Massive well done to everyone involved,” Joe David, a senior mission designer at Rockstar, said on Twitter. His sentiment is widely shared across his colleagues.
“So proud to have been part of this journey! I’m so glad y’all got a preview of what you’re gonna play!” Anoop Ravi Thomas, associate principal graphics programmer at Rockstar, posted. “So excited for people to finally see what we’ve been working on,” Jacob Lloyd, a senior QA tester at the studio, says.
The feature on Netflix is an event for them as much as for anyone else, since they finally get to see public reactions and feel their audience’s energy. And, I mean, knowing your game is already making history through doing a landmark pre-release must be amazing.
Imagine telling your family and friends, hey, the thing I worked on is being previewed on Netflix right now. I’m sure they all understand it’s going to be the biggest game of the year anyway, but to have the world’s largest streaming platform involved? It’s a whole other level.
“It’s a privilege to get to work with such immensely talented and great people on this game,” Dan Willey, another of Rockstar’s senior QA testers, posted on Twitter. “Beyond excited and proud of this extended look and especially proud of the motion capture and animation teams,” Rhys Bassett, a motion capture animator at the studio, writes.
It’s truly endearing to see everyone rally together on the back of Netflix’s big reveal. These devs have earned their moment in the limelight, and it was nearly scuppered by the amount of leaks we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks. Well over a dozen clips made their way online, prompting legal action from Rockstar.
The Netflix special seems to have completely pushed those into irrelevance. I hope they all soak it in appropriately. After all, “this is Rockstar’s magnum opus,” as Bradley Stone, lead game tools programmer, says.