Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Dan Houser
Daniel Houser (born November 1973) is an English video game writer and producer. He is one of the co-founders of Rockstar Games alongside his brother Sam Houser. He served as the head writer and vice president of creativity until his resignation in 2020. He founded Absurd Ventures in 2021, creating new intellectual properties across several mediums.
Prior to his departure from the company, Houser was regarded as the primary creative driving force behind much of Rockstar's output. First serving as the sole writer for Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 (1997), he went on to become the lead writer and creative director for most titles in the Grand Theft Auto series, Red Dead Redemption (2010) and Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018), Bully (2006), Midnight Club: Los Angeles (2008), and Max Payne 3 (2012).
Daniel Houser was born in London in November 1973, the son of actress Geraldine Moffat and solicitor and saxophonist Walter Houser (1934–2025). He was educated at St Paul's School and the University of Oxford, studying geography. Despite wanting to be musicians, both Houser and his brother Sam (alongside whom he would later co-found Rockstar Games) had a fascination with storytelling from a young age. Growing up near a video library in London, they watched many American crime and cult films and Spaghetti Westerns. Houser has stated that he is a fan of the film The Warriors; Rockstar later released a video game adaptation of the film in 2005.
In 1995, Houser got a part-time job at BMG Interactive testing CD-ROMs; he became a full-time employee until 1996. Dan and Sam later became interested in a video game being developed by DMA Design called Race'n'Chase after getting a preview of the game. The Housers signed Race'n'Chase to BMG Interactive as the publisher and changed the name of the game to Grand Theft Auto. Following the sale of BMG Interactive to Take-Two in 1998, Houser and his brother moved with the company to New York, where they founded Rockstar Games. He has cited the 3D Mario and Zelda games on the Nintendo 64 as influences on his work.
Houser has been credited as a writer for twelve Grand Theft Auto titles and a producer for six. Despite the high profile of the Grand Theft Auto series, Houser and his brother have shied away from the celebrity spotlight, preferring to focus on the Rockstar Games brand rather than giving any one person the credit for the games' success. In 2009, both Dan and Sam Houser appeared in Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2009 list.
Houser and his brother were inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences's Hall of Fame in 2014.
In February 2020, Rockstar Games's parent company, Take-Two Interactive, announced Houser's resignation from Rockstar Games. He left Rockstar on 11 March 2020, following an extended break in 2019. In February 2021, Houser registered two companies in Delaware: Absurd Ventures LLC and Absurd Ventures in Games LLC, the latter with a UK-based subsidiary in Altrincham. Houser is listed as the company's producer and creative director. In June 2023, Houser officially announced his involvement in the studio, which he said will "create new universes" in video games, books, graphic novels, scripted podcasts, live-action, and animation.
In November 2023, it was revealed that Lazlow Jones and Michael Unsworth had joined the company as executive producer and head of story, respectively. The company also announced its first projects: a graphic novel called American Caper and an audio series called A Better Paradise. In September 2024, Absurd Ventures announced the formation of Absurd Marin, made up of about 20 developers from Ascendant Studios, developers of Immortals of Aveum.
Hub AI
Dan Houser AI simulator
(@Dan Houser_simulator)
Dan Houser
Daniel Houser (born November 1973) is an English video game writer and producer. He is one of the co-founders of Rockstar Games alongside his brother Sam Houser. He served as the head writer and vice president of creativity until his resignation in 2020. He founded Absurd Ventures in 2021, creating new intellectual properties across several mediums.
Prior to his departure from the company, Houser was regarded as the primary creative driving force behind much of Rockstar's output. First serving as the sole writer for Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 (1997), he went on to become the lead writer and creative director for most titles in the Grand Theft Auto series, Red Dead Redemption (2010) and Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018), Bully (2006), Midnight Club: Los Angeles (2008), and Max Payne 3 (2012).
Daniel Houser was born in London in November 1973, the son of actress Geraldine Moffat and solicitor and saxophonist Walter Houser (1934–2025). He was educated at St Paul's School and the University of Oxford, studying geography. Despite wanting to be musicians, both Houser and his brother Sam (alongside whom he would later co-found Rockstar Games) had a fascination with storytelling from a young age. Growing up near a video library in London, they watched many American crime and cult films and Spaghetti Westerns. Houser has stated that he is a fan of the film The Warriors; Rockstar later released a video game adaptation of the film in 2005.
In 1995, Houser got a part-time job at BMG Interactive testing CD-ROMs; he became a full-time employee until 1996. Dan and Sam later became interested in a video game being developed by DMA Design called Race'n'Chase after getting a preview of the game. The Housers signed Race'n'Chase to BMG Interactive as the publisher and changed the name of the game to Grand Theft Auto. Following the sale of BMG Interactive to Take-Two in 1998, Houser and his brother moved with the company to New York, where they founded Rockstar Games. He has cited the 3D Mario and Zelda games on the Nintendo 64 as influences on his work.
Houser has been credited as a writer for twelve Grand Theft Auto titles and a producer for six. Despite the high profile of the Grand Theft Auto series, Houser and his brother have shied away from the celebrity spotlight, preferring to focus on the Rockstar Games brand rather than giving any one person the credit for the games' success. In 2009, both Dan and Sam Houser appeared in Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2009 list.
Houser and his brother were inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences's Hall of Fame in 2014.
In February 2020, Rockstar Games's parent company, Take-Two Interactive, announced Houser's resignation from Rockstar Games. He left Rockstar on 11 March 2020, following an extended break in 2019. In February 2021, Houser registered two companies in Delaware: Absurd Ventures LLC and Absurd Ventures in Games LLC, the latter with a UK-based subsidiary in Altrincham. Houser is listed as the company's producer and creative director. In June 2023, Houser officially announced his involvement in the studio, which he said will "create new universes" in video games, books, graphic novels, scripted podcasts, live-action, and animation.
In November 2023, it was revealed that Lazlow Jones and Michael Unsworth had joined the company as executive producer and head of story, respectively. The company also announced its first projects: a graphic novel called American Caper and an audio series called A Better Paradise. In September 2024, Absurd Ventures announced the formation of Absurd Marin, made up of about 20 developers from Ascendant Studios, developers of Immortals of Aveum.