Rockstar Founder & GTA Storyteller, Dan Houser Resigns

Dan Houser, co-founder of Rockstar Games, and the creative force behind games like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption leave the company. Through a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, parent company Rockstar Take-Two Interactive announced that the final day will be March 11.

Take-Two announced his departure Tuesday afternoon stating that it is “very grateful for his contribution.” It said that under his leadership “Rockstar Games has built some of the game’s most critically and commercially successful worlds, a global community of passionate fans and an incredibly talented team, who stay focused on current and future projects.” There is no explanation as to the reason for his departure.

Dan Houser founded Rockstar Games with his brother Sam Houser in 1998 as part of Take-Two Interactive. The company has grown to become one of Take-Two’s most popular, and profitable subsidiaries, and Dan is deeply involved in the creative side of the company. He was the lead writer on highly successful games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 and served as producer on other Rockstar titles such as Bully and Max Payne 3.

The Houser brothers had a huge influence on the studio, printing and shaping many of the most popular titles. Both were included in Time Magazine’s 2009 100 Most Influential People list.

“We are very grateful for his contribution. Rockstar Games has built some of the game’s most critically and commercially successful worlds, a global community of passionate fans and an incredibly talented team, who stay focused on current and future projects.“

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Reasons for Dan resigning from Rockstar:

It’s not clear why Dan Houser left the studio but he has been “extending a break” since the spring of 2021. His departure was announced just two days before his quarterly earnings report, which is expected to be out later this week. As of now, there’s no evidence that these two things are related, but the timing has raised eyebrows from some fans.

Rockstar declined to comment on the situation but instead pointed to a statement released by Take-Two. There’s no hint as to whether this will affect Rockstar’s upcoming release schedule or the GTA surprise coming in 2021. But either way, Dan’s presence will definitely be missed.