While Grand Theft Auto 6 is the frontrunner as being the biggest game release of the year, former Rockstar Games animator Mike York has noted that the studio might have to worry about Crimson Desert sneakily stealing its thunder. In a recent video (as caught by WCCFTech), York noted that the studio could lose out on game of the year awards if it happens to drop the ball with Grand Theft Auto 6 in terms of quality.
“This game, this could be Game of the Year, okay. Mark my words,” said York about Crimson Desert, praising its open-world activities and variety from recent trailers. “And the reason for that is because of how much you can get lost in this game… it really is a contender when it comes to all the cool stuff all this game kind of has to offer.”
“If GTA VI drops the ball, [Crimson Desert] could be Game of the Year,” York added. “If GTA VI wasn’t here at all this year, [Crimson Desert] would probably take Game of the Year, from what it looks like.”
This isn’t the first time that York has spoken about Grand Theft Auto 6. Back in December, he noted that Rockstar Games is unlikely to delay the highly-anticipated yet again, since it risks losing out on much of the hype it has been generating.
“If Rockstar Games delay GTA 6 again then the hype around the game will die down almost completely. Right now, nobody is searching for GTA 6,” said York. “Everyone knows there’s no news, there’s nothing to talk about… There’s a point to where you delay something so much that you start to make people angry.”
He also spoke about the potential reasons behind the last few delays, talking about how the developers are likely working on making GTA 6 as well-polished as they can.
“If I know Rockstar Games, and I know the guys over there, one of the reasons for the delay in releasing GTA 6 is because they’re trying to make it look as best as it can possibly be,” York said. “They’re polishing stuff. I don’t think they’re completely finished with the game, given how much is on the line and how big everyone’s expectations are for it.”
York has also previously praised the trailers released for Grand Theft Auto 6, going as far as to say that tie title will likely end up looking just as good as it looks in the videos. “I’m really impressed with how far they’re bringing the graphics for an in-game kind of version of this,” he said. “A lot of times you see [cinematics used], this is not that, when you play this game, it’s really gonna look like this.”
While you wait for the November 19th release date of Grand Theft Auto 6 on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, you can check out some of the details developer Pearl Abyss has revealed about Crimson Desert. In an interview from earlier this week, marketing director Will Powers discussed the game’s dynamic weather system, and how it will affect gameplay as well as cutscenes. The studio has also confirmed that the game is fully voiced by human actors.
