What Dan Houser said in a recent interview

Dan Houser is the co-founder of Rockstar Games and the writer of nearly all GTA games and Red Dead Redemption. He left the studio in 2020 and founded Absurd Ventures a year later. On September 27, the developer gave an interview to IGN. Read our article to learn the highlights of his conversation with journalists.

Dan has worked on nearly all Grand Theft Auto games, and currently has no interest in returning to the series. Houser has no involvement with the plot or characters of GTA 6, but he is confident that we will have an excellent game.

According to Dan, it was already clear at E3 in May 2001 that GTA 3 would be a hit. However, back then, several months before the release, not everyone understood this. The developers were upset, as their game's concept showed enormous potential. These concerns were heightened after the September 11th terrorist attacks. It seemed the press wouldn't embrace the game, but it would prove popular with audiences.

Players were truly delighted. Publisher Take-Two didn't have enough money to print enough GTA 3 discs to meet demand. It was released on October 22nd, and its sales continued unabated for several months. Even in 2002, PS2 copies of Grand Theft Auto III were flying off store shelves.

It's not that development went smoothly. For example, it wasn't entirely clear how to present the story in an open-world game. So they decided to turn to motion capture technology. Rockstar even bought a separate studio for it. And this despite the fact that they were desperately short of funds. Alex Horton, responsible for animation, did a brilliant job. One of the challenges he faced was getting the main character to speak (this problem was never solved; the main character in GTA 3 didn't utter a word – LibertyCity). For Dan himself, Grand Theft Auto III gave him insight into scriptwriting.

Once the basic mechanics were in place, the developers drove around Liberty City in cars and considered how they could fill the game with content, especially given the resource constraints. This is where the idea for talk radio came about. It was an inexpensive yet effective way to engage the player.

GTA pays a lot of attention to American culture. According to Dan, this was made possible by the fact that he is British but also lived in the US for many years. As a result, he can see American realities from the inside and compare them with what he's seen in other countries. Thus, it's possible to highlight interesting features that are reflected in the Grand Theft Auto series.

There's a stereotype that Rockstar never limited developers in terms of money and time. This isn't true. Take-Two pressured the developers from all sides. They limited their resources, set specific deadlines, and monitored changes to the core mechanics. But even under these conditions, they found ways to implement their ideas. For example, television in GTA 4 and silent films in Red Dead Redemption don't affect gameplay in any way, but they contribute to immersion.

Houser stated that Red Dead Redemption 2 is the best game he's ever worked on. It successfully combined storytelling with an open world, making the adventure as emotionally charged as possible. During its development, it was clear that it would never surpass GTA 5 in sales. This created an opportunity to implement creative ideas.

Dan also singled out the ending of the first Red Dead Redemption for praise.

Rockstar had a very small creative team, so the studio couldn't handle all the projects it wanted. There were attempts to develop two games simultaneously, but this proved to be quite problematic. And soon the question arose: where were we even going? As a result, work on Bully 2 was canceled.

American Caper is a new universe from Houser, debuting on November 12th as a graphic novel series. It's dark and brutal, but those who have seen Trevor's actions are unlikely to be shocked by this comic. Dan has always loved crime comedies, but this time he decided to move away from stories about car thieves and look at gangsters from a different perspective, to show a side of life that you will never see in GTA. There's a place for men who are unable to distinguish reality from their own fantasies. The result is a unique dark comedy. It will take place in small towns, and the main characters will be guys who think they're more successful than they actually are. They will make ridiculous mistakes that directly impact their lives.

Despite Dan's interest in writing comics, he hasn't abandoned the gaming industry. His company, Absurd Ventures, is currently working on two projects. The first game will be set in an absurd universe (absurdverse), and it will be a third-person, open-world comedy (an unusual description of the genre – LibertyCity). The second will be a tragedy with dystopian elements. Both games are in the very early stages of development.

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Do you think Dan Houser will find success outside of Rockstar? Or will he follow in the footsteps of Leslie Benzies and his MindsEye? Share your thoughts in the comments!