Dan Houser, Rockstar Games’ co-founder and vice president, will be leaving the studio this March following his extended hiatus. This marks a huge change in leadership for the famous development studio responsible for some of the greatest and most influential video games ever made.
Announced during a SEC filing registered by Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar Games‘ parent company, the Vice President will be departing the studio after 22 years:
After an extended break beginning in the spring of 2019, Dan Houser, Vice President, Creative at Rockstar Games, will be leaving the company. Dan Houser’s last day will be March 11, 2020. We are extremely grateful for his contributions. Rockstar Games has built some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful game worlds, a global community of passionate fans and an incredibly talented team, which remains focused on current and future projects.”
Dan Houser co-founded Rockstar Games with his brother Sam Houser when BMG Interactive, the original defunct studio that Rockstar Games was born from, was acquired in 1998 by Take-Two. The two of them have since been Vice President and President of the company respectively, and lead the production of some of the most successful video games ever developed.
Rockstar Games is most well-known for the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead series, but also helmed series like Bully, Max Payne, L.A. Noire, and Midnight Club. GTA V, the most recent entry in the GTA Universe, became the greatest-selling game of the decade according to NPD statistics. Several other Grand Theft Auto games have gotten close as well, with the only other franchise to achieve similar consistent success being Call of Duty from Activision.
The NPD Group: U.S. Top 20 Best-Selling Games by Decade 2000 through 2019 ranked on dollar sales #videogames pic.twitter.com/5RmKgISbNi
— NPD Games (@npdgames) January 17, 2020
This announcement comes after Dan Houser’s extended hiatus from Rockstar Games that began late last year, presumably after wrapping Red Dead Redemption II. Dan’s impact can be felt throughout any and all Rockstar Games released prior to this year. Houser was heavily involved in the writing and concept of almost every game developed by the studio. It’ll be interesting to see how things may change for Rockstar Games moving forward.
Sam Houser, Dan’s brother, will continue to serve as President of Rockstar Games for the foreseeable future.
Source: SEC