Ever noticed the conspicuous absence of a PC release date in the Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6) trailer? If you’re a keen-eyed gamer, you’re not alone. The trend seems to echo the past, with Red Dead Redemption 2 taking 13 months and Grand Theft Auto 5 an astonishing 19 months to grace our PCs.
Let’s dive into the insights shared by Mike York, an animator at Rockstar Games from 2012 to 2017, shedding light on why this delay might be the norm.
Section
Summary
Introduction
Grand Theft Auto 6’s PC release delay has caught attention, echoing past patterns. Mike York, a Rockstar Games ex-employee, shares insights on this intriguing trend.
GTA Animator’s Take
Mike York, animator on GTA 5 and RDR2, explains the delay on his YouTube channel. Developers prioritize perfecting console versions first, focusing energy on top sellers like PlayStation.
Behind the Scenes
York reveals that during his tenure, the team concentrated on pushing the limits of PS3 and Xbox 360, with the PC version playing a secondary role. Rockstar historically prioritizes consoles and then optimizes for PC.
Prioritizing Consoles
Rockstar’s approach involves working backward from consoles to PC, advancing hardware during the porting process. The PC version acts as a background effort initially.
PC Testing Challenges
A significant hurdle in the PC release journey is extensive testing to accommodate the diverse PC landscape. York highlights that testing resources may be limited, making the process challenging.
The Whisperings from a GTA Animator
Mike York, who contributed his talents to both GTA 5 and RDR2, spilled the beans on his YouTube channel, ‘York Reacts.’ According to him, one of the main culprits for the delayed PC port lies in the developers’ pursuit of perfection.
“They wanna prioritize what sells. Most of the time (especially in the past) PlayStation was the big seller … so, what the developer would do is focus all their energy on making sure the PlayStation port and the PlayStation game worked really good,” York revealed.
Behind the Scenes at Rockstar Games
During his stint at Rockstar Games, York explained how the focus was primarily on the PS3 and Xbox 360 during the development of GTA 5. “We were mainly pushing the PS3 to the limits … the PC version is kind of the version that’s in the background … it’s not quite polished, it’s just kinda feeding the other games and making them work,” he shared.
Prioritizing Consoles and Working Backwards
Historically, Rockstar Games has been known to prioritize the console version and then work backward to cater to the PC audience. York claims that developers use the PC port as an opportunity to advance the hardware and optimize it for the latest and greatest PC components.
“They’re gonna optimize it for the best PC parts that are available today. It’s different architecture and components, they have to accommodate for all these different things that can happen,” explained York.
The PC Testing Challenge
One significant hurdle in the PC release journey, as highlighted by York, is the extensive testing required for the diverse PC landscape. “They need to test the game more on PC … there’s a lot of things that can go wrong when you release that PC port. It’s hard to do that as a developer because the team isn’t big enough,” he emphasized.
