Rockstar founder announces new narrative studio
Dan Houser’s latest venture has been revealed. That has been announced by the co-founder of Rockstar Games and co-creator of Grand Theft Auto Absurd enterprises “will create new IP for all platforms and for all formats.”
Houser, who left Rockstar in 2020, first chartered a company called “Absurd Ventures in Games” in mid-2021. Thursday’s statement is Houser’s first formal statement that he is behind a new studio.
“We’re building Absurd Ventures to create new universes and tell amazing stories wherever and however we can,” Houser said in a press release. The statement says Absurd Ventures seeks to build narrative worlds and characters “for a wide variety of genres, regardless of medium, to be produced for live-action and animation; video games and other interactive content; books, graphic novels, and scripted podcasts.
Absurd Ventures was formally announced with a two-minute video embracing the absurdity of the company’s name. Composed of what appears to be stock and original footage (one scene shows a group of zombies dancing; another shows a man vacuuming a clearing in the woods), the video asks, “Is it okay to dream again, or are you just trying to sell me something?” ? Is it okay to ask questions, or are you just going to take me outside and shoot me? Is it all my fault that things went so strange?” The video ends with what appears to be the studio’s slogan: “Telling stories. Philanthropy. Ultra violence.”
Houser, 49, started Rockstar Games with his brother Sam in 1998. The studio/publisher is best known for the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption series, as well as the Max Payne franchise and groundbreaking titles like Bully, manhuntAnd LA Noire.
He was the lead writer of Grand Theft Auto 5 And Red Dead Redemption 2, two of the largest launches, measured by sales, of the last decade. He was also a producer and writer Bully (2006) and Max Payne 3 (2012).
Rockstar announced in February 2020 that Dan Houser would be leaving the company, following an extended hiatus that followed Red Dead Redemption 2Fall 2018 launch.