Take-Two Interactive says Dan Houser, Vice President, Creative at Rockstar Games, will be leaving

After an extended break beginning in the spring of 2019, Dan Houser, Vice President, Creative at Rockstar Games, will be leaving the company.

[MadLad]

Damn. Wasn't expecting this one.

[NecrumOddBoy]

Its healthy for leadership to switch out every 5 years or so. I am very confident Rockstar will still continue to deliver and he may put some of that quality into another company.

[Gaming101]

Dan Houser was part of the creative genius of Rockstar since GTA 3.

This isn't like a CEO leaving. The creative team can't be replaced as easily as managers who are just in charge of organizing people and tasks. The CEO already left in 2016 because of royalties not being paid. Dan Houser probably left for the same reason. There's millions of dollars month still being made off of GTA 5 and everyone wants a piece. It's still at the top of the top 10 list for game sales each and every month. Look it up!

[roadkillers]

No, Sam Houser and Dan Houser started Rockstar games... Though Rockstar can attract the hottest talent with GTA.

With the kind of money he has made, I would go do something I am very passionate about.

[wheresmymonkey]

It's healthy for one of the founders of the company and lead writer on every hit the company have had in the last two decades to leave. it'll be fine.

When the talent leaves, the ship sinks. Look at Bioware.

[frostypants]

"Its healthy for leadership to switch out every 5 years or so."

No it's not. That puts pressure on every newcomer to shake things up for the sake of shaking things up because they want to leave a mark in their short time, rather than doing what's truly best for the company. It breeds dysfunction and uncertainty. It's one of the worst aspects of modern corporate culture. As far as this dude goes though, he's been there for ages and ages...he helped found Rockstar 20+ years ago...so I don't blame him for moving on. My guess is he's done with the industry.

[TheProfessional]

"Its healthy", says the expert on n4g.

He's not just "leadership" this was one of the main creative forces at Rockstar since the PS2 era. Rockstar has already been getting disgustingly greedy and corporate with shark cards and gta online and now they just make one game every five years. With this guy leaving I would be surprised if things don't get worse. GTA will always sell though, maybe he had some influence on VI before he left since they've definitely been working on it

[Crazyglues]

The real question I have now is how will this affect GTA 6... are we still on track, will there be delays, how much of the game has he already worked on..??? Will it be hard to continue the vision they have for the game or has that been locked in since back when GTA 5 came out..? Will the other brother now be the soul creator of the game...

So many questions..?
-This is just really shocking right now, to see the founder and main creator leave...

[NealGamby]

Uh oh. Not sure if this is good or bad news for future GTA games. I liked the style of satirical humor it had. The grass is not always greener on the other side.

[sander9702]

We will find out more Thursday but it's looking very bad right now, Dan Houser was basically the heart and soul of Rockstar games. I don't know how anyone can fill his shoes.

[isarai]

Hmm, well that paints a very unsure future, but not like hes involved in EVERY R* game and they have always made great games so could be fine.

[Atom666]

Not sure if you're being sarcastic, but he's literally been involved in every R* game as a writer or producer for almost 20 years.

[isarai]

Max Payne 1/2, Manhunt 1/2 and L.A. Noire he didn't have any involvement as writer and they were still very good games. Im not downplaying his massive involvement, just saying there are examples of great R* games without him as writer.

[xenz]

@Isarai Max Payne 1/2 was made by Remedy. L.A Noire by Team Bondi and om regards to manhunt, only 1st was good.

[isarai]

@xenz

So examples only matter if you like them?

[Atom666]

True. He wasn't involved with the Remedy-developed Max Payne titles, and his brother was behind the manhunt titles.

Are those the "great" games you really feel represent R*? He's credited as an EP on LA Noire btw.

[frostypants]

@isarai you're confusing developing a game with publishing one. LA Noire for example was NOT developed by Rockstar. That's like saying a book publisher is responsible for writing the book.

[Smokehouse]

Link doesn’t work..

[frostypants]

Here's one that works from a better source anyway.

https://www.theverge.com/20...

[Smokehouse]

Thanks. I was wondering if he’s sticking in the industry but moving to a smaller team like many devs have but there is no mention of his future plans.

[P_Bomb]

Oh wow with a bit of uh oh. That’s huge.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

Well that was unexpected. I wonder if he took that long break to really think about making the move or if it was more sudden. I hope the groundwork for GTA VI has already been completed.

[AK91]

Wow I did not see this one coming, guess even Dan was tired of Take Twos BS.

[2pacalypsenow]

The downfall of rockstar might be starting

[King_Noctis]

That is a bit dramatic don’t you think? Rockstar ain’t going anywhere. They are still one of the best devs in the world.

[isarai]

That's what im getting at, there's been 2-3 other writers on every game he's not the only hand in these games, and it's not like he's the only good, or best writer in the gaming industry.

Everyone was worried when Naughty Dog and Sony Santa Monica drop their lead writers and we ended up getting the best stories those studios have ever made after that. Im just saying there's more talent out there, both already existing in R* aswell as throughout the industry that they can hire. So calm tf down people

[MeatyUrologist]

Hope this doesn't affect the next 5 years of gta v online update cash grabs....maybe he can go to a company that still has interest in single player, story based games.

[porkChop]

That is NOT good for Rockstar. The Houser brothers are a huge part of what makes Rockstar who they are, Dan especially.

I wonder if he's founding a new studio.

[TheColbertinator]

This dude is a genius. Take 2 lost a good playmaker.

[Segata]

AWESOME! Dude is a total prick. Manbaby who treats people like utter shit. Downvote all you want but holy shit the stories my friends told about working under him are unreal. Dude is a real asshole. Imagine the real-life version of JP from Grandmas boy.

[BlackIceJoe]

I'm going to take a guess Dan will stay in the video game market, but start up his own company to get a big slice of the pie.

[THC CELL]

Maybe was not out to buy rockstar maybe they. Was to buy GTA ip

[keys1579]

I know one person doesn't make a team but that's a big loss for Rockstar.

[Profchaos]

This really sucks as he's been a primary writer on all of rockstar games releases I'm honestly afraid that rockstar will start to suck and focus on mp purely because of this.

[fatbastard11]

Maybe he got in a fight with his bro.

[RosweeSon]

Hopefully he’s put a lot of the work into GTA6 already and his brother can see it through.