Developer Jeremy Pope was a part of Rockstar Games for several years before he left the company and eventually started his own studio. After working on games such as Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and Max Payne, it was time for a change. The reason for him leaving was that the games Rockstar was producing, though of a high quality standard, were simply too violent, and Pope was having a hard time really continuing work on these types of experiences.

“I was still in my early to mid-20s, I had grown up playing all types of games, violent games included, and worked on Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto, etc.,” Pope told GamesIndustry International. “I would always kind of defend the games we were making and I was pretty proud of being involved, but then when I would visit my grandmother in highly religious Alabama and have to explain what I do for a living, I didn’t feel so great about explaining to them that I was a part of ‘that game’ they’ve been hearing about.”

Despite not feeling the desire to work on violent games as part of the Rockstar crew, Pope still has a high level of respect for the company. The dev even pointed out that it’s a total shame that so many individuals in the media have decided to look at Rockstar and its games with such disgust.

“I definitely want to make a point of saying that I actually love Rockstar’s games and I think that it’s unfortunate that their games were specifically called out and targeted by the media, because their games — and we all know this — are really masterworks,” stated Pope. “Grand Theft Auto just pushed the boundaries in almost every possible way … So it’s a shame that those games have become a talking point.”

So what’s Pope doing now? As the head of Rally Games, the industry veteran is now working on mobile titles. The studio’s first project, Top Bot, launched last month on iOS platforms and looks absolutely nothing like Grand Theft Auto. The auto-moving racer is free to play and features multiplayer gameplay, a component Rally is actively pursuing.

“What we’re focused on at Rally is really trying to push things on the social end,” explained Pope. “I think about what it is I enjoy most about games and it’s always interacting with other people, it’s multiplayer.”

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