Leslie Benzies was instrumental in developing Grand Theft Auto V when he worked at Rockstar Games. He left the company amid a major dispute and a huge lawsuit, and now he’s shared his thoughts on GTA VI, saying he expects the “geniuses” at Rockstar to create an amazing game.
“[There’s a] great amount of geniuses there always creating something new, unique and of a scale that very few others can actually pull off,” Benzies told GamingBible.
In 2016, Benzies sued Rockstar owner Take-Two, saying he was owed $150 million in royalties and further alleging that he was forced out. Take-Two, meanwhile, said Benzies’ claims were “entirely without merit” and that he left the company after “significant performance and conduct issues.”
Benzies is now leading a new studio called Build A Rocket Boy, which is releasing a new game, MindsEye. Naturally, people are comparing it to GTA, and Benzies said he expected people to make the connection.
“There’s always comparisons. The first question that gets asked is always about the old game, but I think that’s human nature,” Benzies said. “You know, it’s what happened to Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters, [people] were more interested in Nirvana. It’ll take a bit of time for us to find our own identity.”
MindsEye releases in June for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, and it’s published by Hitman developer IO. As for GTA 6, the game is launching later this year for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. An exact release date hasn’t been revealed yet, but now that we know when Mafia: The Old Country and Borderlands 4 are launching, that might provide clues about GTA 6’s release date.
