The Last of Us and Uncharted 4 Creator Admits Fear of GTA VI Release

As the release of Grand Theft Auto VI approaches, industry figures are sharing their thoughts on the upcoming installment, with a former Naughty Dog developer arguing that creators should focus on shorter games instead of massive projects like GTA and The Elder Scrolls.

Matt Radford recently appeared on Kiwi Talkz to discuss the Rockstar Games project alongside his past work in the industry.

Radford worked as a visual effects artist at Naughty Dog on titles such as The Last of Us and Uncharted 4. During the interview, he explained that he is now more interested in shorter games:

Not everyone can afford to spend dozens of hours on a single game to reach the final credits, whereas short campaigns can be completed over a weekend.

Radford also noted that even The Last of Us Part II “felt too long” to him. He preferred the earlier entries in the Uncharted franchise, which could be finished in 6 to 8 hours.

Game budgets are currently ballooning, with production costs sometimes reaching hundreds of millions of dollars. Radford believes that creating shorter, more compact projects would help cut down expenses:

Image source: Rockstar Games

Grand Theft Auto VI is scheduled for release on November 19, 2026, for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.