Former GTA dev says 'it's time for a revolution' where 'animation is more AI-driven and physics-driven' than done by hand

The last time Rockstar Games revealed something about GTA 6 it was the first trailer, which premiered on December 4 and promptly shattered the Guiness World Record for views of a videogame reveal on YouTube. Since then… nothing. And before that… also nothing! Most of the info we've gotten about GTA 6 over the years is from that massive leak of gameplay footage in 2022, and when the December trailer leaked just ahead of Rockstar officially releasing it.

According to Obbe Vermeij, technical director at Rockstar North from 1995 to 2009, however, huge leaks aren't as devastating as they may appear. In an interview with YouTuber SanInPlay last week, spotted by GamesRadar, Vermeij offered his views on leaks and Rockstar's marketing strategy, and also made some predictions about the future of videogame animation.

«The leaks are not as important as people think,» he said. «It's just because there's millions of people waiting for any news. And Rockstar doesn't give them any news.»

Vermeij said in the interview that he «can totally understand» why game publishers like Rockstar remain silent leading up to a new game launch, despite fans desperate for any shred of new information. «Whenever a big company says anything, whether it's Rockstar, EA, or Ubisoft, or whatever, it gets analyzed and it often gets spun negatively,» he said. «It turns into a negative thing. From their point of view, their best bet is just to be quiet. That's what they're doing.»

Vermeij said «it's a shame» that developers won't speak more freely and more often, adding «it's not just their fault. It's also the fault of the public. Everybody's attacking the big companies all the time, so they're just better off being quiet.»

Ironically, Vermeij hasn't been quiet about GTA himself. He started a blog last year about his work on GTA 3 & 4, as well as Vice City and San Andreas… and promptly got an email from Rockstar about it. 

«I genuinely didn't think anyone would mind me talking about 20 year old games but I