Grand Theft Auto's Dan Houser would be "sadder" to see Red Dead Redemption 3 happen without him than GTA 6

Grand Theft Auto is almost synonymous with Dan Houser, yet the Rockstar Games co-founder says he'd be more sad to see Red Dead Redemption 3 happen without him. Alongside his brother Sam, Houser was long considered the driving creative force behind the studio's biggest hits, yet he chose to step away from the company in 2020 after the launch of RDR 2. Talking to podcaster Lex Fridman, Houser reflects on watching GTA 6 come to fruition from a distance, the protagonist he originally wanted to kill, and why his best crime games are so deeply rooted in Americana.

Houser is now running multimedia developer Absurd Ventures, which is working on everything from comic books to a new open-world game, and says he's "pleased to be doing other stuff, excited for what we're working on now." Yet he acknowledges that leaving behind a series he's been so close to for more than 20 years, with lead writer credits on over ten games, "is a big change, and sad in a way." Yet he finds himself more able to watch GTA 6 play out from a distance than he would if Red Dead Redemption 3 happened.

"Because each of the [GTA] games was kind of a standalone story, it's not quite the same; I think it probably would be, in some ways, sadder if someone continued on Red Dead, because it was a cohesive two-game arc. That might be more sad to hear someone working on that. But again, that probably will happen too. I don't own the IP. That was sort of part of the deal - it's a privilege to work on stuff, but you don't necessarily own it."

Digging into story spoilers for both series, Houser reveals that before Red Dead Redemption's tragic climax, "I would have liked to have, at the end of GTA 4, killed Niko, but you couldn't do it. You know, the game doesn't work out like that." He explains that "the games don't really end and you have to be able to wander around the world and do stuff." While Niko does lose someone close to him (depending on your choices through the story), he's able to continue engaging in the other open-world frolics on offer.

The team decided in the end to take the risk with RDR, and we all know how that went. Even then, a concession was made to have a replacement protagonist step into John Marston's shoes - his son, Jack. "That was also [because] the game still had to work as a game," Houser continues. "Whether that was the right ending, 100% the best ending from a pure storytelling perspective, I don't know." He adds that "I always also wanted a version of it where Jack did escape [from the cycle of violence], but that wasn't… you know."

Houser also touches on the GTA 5 DLC that was never finished, "where you played as Trevor, but he was a secret agent." He estimates that the project "was about half done when it got abandoned," but adds, "I think if that had come out, we probably wouldn't have gotten to make Red Dead 2. So there are always compromises." In the end, GTA Online got the bigger focus, but Houser says "I like single-player DLC. I just think the audience loves it, and it's really fun to make."

He notes that Absurd is now focusing on open-world single-player games, in an attempt to lean into the studio's strengths. Launching a multiplayer-focused new IP is "extremely hard," he says, although there's the possibility that an Absurd-developed game might end up adding "multiplayer components" at some point. "I'd love to, with all of those, keep single-player DLC going, one way or another."

GTA London "was pretty cute and fun," but Houser says the team decided that the series had "so much Americana inherent in the IP" that a full game would be hard to make work anywhere else. "You needed guns, you needed these larger-than-life characters. It just felt like the game was so much about America, possibly from an outsider's perspective." He acknowledges, however, that the long lead times on game development today make sharp, satirical stories harder: "How do you characterize it when things move so quickly and so fast?"

If you're curious to hear more of Houser's thoughts on Rockstar over the years, his new work with Absurd Ventures, the inability to make its failed spy caper Agent fit an open-world setting, and how both he and his characters face their own mortality, I'd certainly recommend listening to the full interview. The GTA 6 release date is starting to feel remarkably close these days, although with still no word on the PC version, but perhaps once that's behind us we'll discover whether Rockstar wants to return to the Old West.

Check in with the cast list of GTA 6 voice actors to see who'll be starring in Rockstar's return to Vice City. Or look ahead to the biggest upcoming PC games for the rest of 2025 and beyond.

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