Frenzy surrounding GTA 6 release date ‘humbling’, series creator tells LBC ahead of Netflix trailer event tonight

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Developer Rockstar is officially releasing gameplay footage from its upcoming title for the first time in what it’s describing as an “extended look” on the streaming platform at 8pm UK time.

Up to thirty minutes' worth is expected to be showcased to subscribers ahead of the game’s official release in November, four years on from when its development was confirmed and more than 13 years on from the release of GTA V.

It also comes almost three decades after the first Grand Theft Auto game came out in 1997, spawning the franchise which has gone on to sell more than 400million copies worldwide and generate $10billion worth of revenue.

It was created by the then Dundee-based DMA Design founded by David Jones who also led development on it and GTA 2.

He's told LBC the level of worldwide excitement ahead of GTA 6's release date next month is something he could never have imagined three decades ago.

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"It's pretty exciting and kind of humbling as well, because when you make a game, you're never quite sure which are the ones that are really going to do well, I think I've made 20+ over my career.

"But I think GTA, it's just the game that keeps giving, really. It was the first of a genre, an open world freeform game, we called it, and I think it just had the best roots to keep on growing, and I think to keep on growing in the future as well.

"I started many, many years ago, the first GTA came out nearly 30 years ago now, when selling maybe 10,000 copies of a game was seen as a big success.

"I was super nervous (before it was released). Back then we had to giveaway demos to get people playing the games. Just getting people to try something for 5 or 10 minutes, that was a huge hurdle back then when you were launching something new. You'd spend a couple years on something and then yeah, you waited with bated breath.

"So the growth has just been, year upon year, absolutely amazing, for the games industry, and I think GTA's kind of been the crown in that, which is great to see."

A chain of purchases and takeovers since 1997 is what led to the studio now being known as Rockstar North, part of Rockstar Games.

It now employs around a thousand people in Scotland at their buildings in Edinburgh and Dundee, a legacy David is proud of.

He told LBC: "I mean in Scotland it has been tremendous. That (GTA) kind of really helped obviously put Scotland on the map. And from that, I think it inspired a lot of young people, and inspired the universities here to start offering a lot of courses around gaming.

"And then even from my company back then, we had people maybe splitting out, that wanted to do their own company, which we fully supported.

"So it just helped grow an ecosystem and everybody knew everybody. So over the years, that's just flourished and it's a really good scene.

"And I think there's so many different roles you can go into in terms of making a game now. I mean, back when I was young, you're either a programmer or an artist and maybe a musician if you were lucky.

"But now, GTA 6 has probably got, I think, 2,000+ people on it. So the amount of roles and the specialist roles now is absolutely phenomenal."

The game's current developers yesterday released a statement telling us they're "very excited for everyone to see" what they've been working on tonight.

But Rockstar also said it was "heartbroken" that some gameplay footage had been leaked online in the last week.

Hundreds of thousands are believe to have now seen a series of short clips which were appearing online on a daily basis.

The man its developers owe their foundations to though doesn't think the saga will be remembered in two months time.

"I think that'll be forgotten. The trailer today is going to show a lot, right? It's a huge event, way more than the leaks have shown.

"And I think that, at the end of the day, it's been in development for 13 years now. It's an absolutely huge game. There is just going to be so much new stuff in there that I think everything will be forgotten as soon as launch day comes."

GTA VI is set to be officially released on PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X|S on November 19.