Executive Overview
The video game landscape has been shaped indelibly by the creative visions of a select few auteurs, and Dan Houser stands proudly at the apex of that exclusive tier. As the co-founder and former lead writer of Rockstar Games, Houser was the architectural mind behind culturally definitive blockbusters like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. These franchises did not merely sell millions of copies; they redefined the boundaries of interactive entertainment, moving it from a niche hobby to the dominant storytelling medium of the 21st century.
Following his departure from Rockstar in 2020, the industry waited with bated breath to see what Houser’s next move would be. In 2023, he unveiled his answer: Absurd Ventures, a multi-platform media company designed from the ground up to incubate original intellectual properties across video games, graphic novels, fiction podcasts, books, and animated series.
Now, in a sweeping and candid interview on Variety’s “Strictly Business” podcast, Houser has finally begun to lift the veil on his next major video game projects. Departing from the sprawling, gritty crime sagas and historical westerns that defined his tenure at Rockstar, Houser and his elite team of industry veterans are pivoting toward entirely new frontiers. Absurd Ventures is currently developing two unannounced video games: a character-driven, open-world comedy designed to push the boundaries of systemic humor and memory, and a biting dystopian sci-fi title centered on a rogue artificial intelligence with a severe psychological identity crisis.
This deep dive examines Houser’s monumental transition, detailing his upcoming titles, his deliberate strategy of creative isolation from contemporary industry trends—including the impending launch of Grand Theft Auto VI—and the overarching transmedia philosophy driving Absurd Ventures into the future.
Detailed Chronology: From Rockstar Giants to Absurd Beginnings
To understand the weight of Dan Houser’s current undertakings, it is essential to retrace the trajectory that led him here. For decades, Houser, alongside his brother Sam Houser and key collaborators like Jeffrey “Lazlow” Jones and Michael Unsworth, built Rockstar Games into a juggernaut of modern pop culture. Under Dan’s narrative direction, titles such as Grand Theft Auto III, San Andreas, GTA V, and both Red Dead Redemption games established a gold standard for open-world immersion, sharp satirical writing, and cinematic scope.
However, the intensive development cycles and corporate pressures inherent to AAA game development eventually prompted a pivot. Following the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018 and a subsequent sabbatical, Houser officially parted ways with Rockstar in early 2020.
Rather than retiring or joining an existing mega-publisher, Houser chose a path of independent reinvention. In 2023, he formally launched Absurd Ventures, shifting his focus from managing massive, singular franchises to cultivating a nimble, transmedia incubation hub. Houser brought along trusted industry alumni—including writer Michael Unsworth, veteran producer Lazlow Jones, and game development chief Greg Borrud—to form an executive core.
Instead of starting with a single game, Absurd Ventures adopted a unique "universe-first" approach. The company established three distinct intellectual properties:
- “A Better Paradise” – A psychological sci-fi world exploring deep anxieties surrounding technology, which would later serve as the foundation for Houser’s upcoming sci-fi game.
- “American Caper” – A satirical, grounded look at crime, failure, and modern Americana.
- “The Absurdaverse” – A maximalist, darkly comedic sandbox designed to test the limits of absurdism.
Rather than waiting half a decade to release a single piece of software, Absurd Ventures began rolling out these universes through fiction podcasts, graphic novels, comic books, and animated shorts. This transmedia strategy allowed the creative team to flesh out lore and test narrative mechanics with audiences in real time. Now, the natural culmination of this world-building phase is materializing: the transition of these universes into interactive video game software.
The Next Frontier: Breaking Down Absurd Ventures’ Unannounced Games
During his appearance on Variety’s "Strictly Business" podcast, Houser pulled back the curtain on the first two video game projects emerging from Absurd Ventures. While formal titles and release dates remain under wraps, the thematic and mechanical descriptions point toward a radical departure from his prior work.
1. The Open-World Comedy: A Focus on Character Memory and Systemic Humor
Open-world games have traditionally prioritized spatial freedom, vehicular physics, and combat versatility. Houser’s next project, however, aims to solve one of the industry’s most enduring challenges: genuinely funny, responsive, and dynamic comedic writing integrated directly into systemic gameplay.
"One is an open-world comedy which is trying to really lean into comedy and character memory, and that we’ll have more information on in the next few months," Houser revealed during the podcast.
While details are scarce, the emphasis on "character memory" suggests an interactive ecosystem where non-player characters (NPCs) retain historical context regarding the player’s actions, dialogue choices, and previous absurd encounters. Where traditional games treat comedic lines as static, one-off punchlines delivered during scripted cutscenes, Houser’s team appears to be engineering a framework where comedy emerges organically from the simulation itself—a monumental design challenge that, if successful, could redefine how humor functions in interactive media.
2. The Dystopian Sci-Fi AI Project: A Narrative of Dysfunctional Creation
The second title leans into high-concept science fiction, drawing inspiration from Absurd Ventures’ transmedia universe A Better Paradise. However, the premise injects Houser’s trademark dark satire directly into the core narrative mechanics.
"And the other is a dystopian sci-fi about a video game development gone very wrong, and about a rogue AI that discovered sentience," Houser explained. "But unfortunately, it was made by two people that didn’t like each other, so it doesn’t like itself."
This meta-narrative conceit—an artificial intelligence plagued by the petty grievances and ideological split of its fictional creators—serves as a brilliant vehicle for satirical commentary on the software development industry itself. It marries high-stakes sci-fi dread with a deeply human, cynical sense of humor, proving that while Houser has left Rockstar behind, his appetite for institutional satire remains fully intact.
Supporting Context & Metrics: Creative Isolation and the Shadow of GTA VI
One of the most compelling revelations from Houser’s recent interview is his deliberate policy of creative isolation. As Absurd Ventures gears up to reveal its titles, the wider gaming industry is fixated on the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto VI, slated for November 19, and published by Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive (still led by Dan’s brother, Sam Houser).
When asked about the 27-minute extended gameplay trailer released by Netflix in August, Houser offered a surprising response: he actively avoids watching it.
"I haven’t seen it yet. I will try and avoid it because I always try and avoid stuff that’s going to distract or disrupt me creatively," Houser stated. "Given that I spend a large amount of time trying to make open-world games, and the rest of my conscious time trying to figure out innovative ways to market them, I don’t need to see what other people are [doing]. I’m always trying to think about new ways of doing it, not sit there in some kind of comparison of what I would have done differently."
This insulation extends beyond just GTA. Houser admitted that he largely abstains from playing open-world games altogether, explaining that his analytical brain instantly deconstructs competitor titles in real time—evaluating animation pipelines, design philosophies, and management structures—which ultimately proves detrimental to his own imaginative process.
He applied this same philosophy during his years at Rockstar. While writing Red Dead Redemption, Houser completely stopped watching Westerns. Similarly, he did not watch HBO’s The Sopranos until years after leaving Rockstar, viewing the finale with his now-wife in real time and binge-watching the rest during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It’s so good that it would have disrupted everything I did on ‘GTA,’ had I watched it at the time," Houser reflected. "So I really try and avoid things that I think are going to overly influence me."
Official Statements & Industry Legacy
The inevitable shadow of Houser’s past work looms large over Absurd Ventures. Every move the company makes is scrutinized through the lens of whether it can match the cultural footprint of Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption. Yet, Houser remains remarkably grounded regarding his legacy and the external pressure to replicate past commercial heights.
"In terms of will I always be compared to it? I don’t know," Houser mused. "Hopefully, on some level there could be no greater compliment. On another level, I hope some of the stuff we make is going to be successful in its own right. It’s no problem to have made good things, but of course, if you make good things, if the new stuff’s not as impactful, that’s going to be disappointing in some ways. But it’s still a privilege to make anything, otherwise you’re just always drowning in your own previous creative work."
For Houser, the metric of success has shifted away from mere box-office dominance or cultural ubiquity. Instead, it rests entirely on artistic integrity and personal pride in the material.
"Certainly, there was a lot of pressure making any ‘GTA’ game when I was on them," he noted. "And the way I would control that pressure for me was to say, am I making something with as much integrity as I can muster and am I making something I’m proud of? And does it feel fresh, new? And if that’s the case, let the results fall where they may."
Future Outlook: What to Expect Next from Absurd Ventures
As Absurd Ventures transitions from a multi-platform incubator into a full-fledged interactive game developer, the coming months will prove critical. With Houser promising concrete details on the open-world comedy project within the next few months, the industry will finally get its first look at gameplay running on the studio’s proprietary vision.
The multi-pronged transmedia rollout—spanning graphic novels, podcasts, and digital books for properties like A Better Paradise and American Caper—has successfully laid the groundwork. Fans and critics alike are eager to see how these rich narrative worlds translate into active, systemic software mechanics.
Ultimately, Dan Houser is embarking on a rare second act in AAA development. By surrounding himself with trusted veterans, insulating his creative process from market noise, and prioritizing structural experimentation over iterative safety, he is positioning Absurd Ventures not as a nostalgic throwback to the glory days of Rockstar, but as a bold, unpredictable laboratory for the future of interactive storytelling. Whether these new titles achieve the astronomical commercial success of his past work remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the mind behind modern gaming’s most infamous worlds is once again playing by entirely his own rules.
