This is the first time Leslie Benzies has talked about Grand Theft Auto since his departure from Rockstar North.

Leslie Benzies left Rockstar North in 2016 following a long sabbatical shortly after the release of Grand Theft Auto V. Since then, Benzies has distanced himself from Grand Theft Auto, a franchise that he has been a part of since 1999 when he joined the Rockstar Games subsidiary. Now, for the first time in years, Benzies is talking about the best-selling franchise ahead of the release of his debut title with his new studio, Build a Rocket Boy.

In an interview with GamingBible at the BAFTA Games Awards (where GTA was ironically robbed in favor of other questionable titles), Benzies shared a few words about the upcoming game, MindsEye. Benzies touches upon how it will inevitably be compared to GTA, particularly Grand Theft Auto 6, which comes out later this year.

"There's always comparisons. The first question that gets asked is always about the old game, but I think that's human nature," shared Benzies. He later expressed his enthusiasm for his former colleagues' work. "Absolutely," he said when asked if he was excited about GTA VI. "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."

It's not often that the former president of the studio responsible for some of the most iconic video games of all time will release a new game roughly around the same time as the next installment in a franchise he helped build. Both MindsEye and GTA 6 are scheduled for release in 2025. MindsEye, which recently got its first trailer last week, will be available to play on June 10 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and PC.

Even before Benzies' most recent interview, the game had drawn comparisons to GTA, as it's described as a "narrative driven, single-player action-adventure." With marketing for MindsEye expected to ramp up over the next two months, such comparisons will only grow stronger. Only time will tell if Benzies' first venture outside of GTA will live up to expectations.

As for GTA 6, only Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive know when we'll hear more about it. There's a chance that Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick will address it next month at the company's next earnings call on May 15. After Zelnick confirmed that Take-Two is trying something new with shorter marketing cycles, we wouldn't be surprised if we don't hear more about GTA 6 until September.

Assuming that Take-Two intends to dedicate 2-3 months to highlight their next non-annual AAA title, we'll get more news about Mafia: The Old Country first followed by Borderlands 4 before it's time for GTA 6 to hog the spotlight.

In the meantime, the rest of the video game industry continues to find creative ways on what words to describe GTA 6. Some are saying that it's like a "huge meteor" while others have described it as an "iceberg". Most recently, GTA 6 is being looked at by analysts as the slumping gaming industry's savior.