Rocktstar Games was founded by British born brothers Sam and Dan Houser in 1998 and is a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive. After taking an extended vacation in the spring of 2019, Vice President Dan Houser will be leaving on March 11th, 2020 according to a form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed on February 4th to alert Take-Two and Rockstar investors of the change in leadership. “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.” The form commented on his departure.
Dan Houser is co-accredited with writing the Grand Theft Auto series which are often praised for being critical of American culture representing it through exaggerated stereotypes. The latest entry, Grand Theft Auto 5, became the highest grossing entertainment product: video games, music, cinema, etc. in all of history. Dan Houser is also credited for being the lead writer behind Red Dead Redemption 2 and has lead creative director for the Max Payne series and Bully.
“The Housers are doing the world of Tom Wolfe, creating tapestries of modern times as detailed as those of Balzack or Dickens,” wrote Matt Selman, executive producer of “The Simpsons,” for TIME Magazine. The Housers went onto being included in TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2009 list.
Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive declined to add a statement or elaborate on any reasoning for Dan Houser’s departure. Rockstar has confirmed that Sam Houser will be staying at Rockstar and retaining his role as president for the New York based company. As of now there isn’t any change in Rockstar’s plan for the future and future games despite Dan Houser leaving a major role in the company’s creative direction.