One of the co-founders of Rockstar Games, Dan Houser, will be leaving the studio by March 11, 2020. This is based on a document named Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by the parent company of Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive. Prior to this, Houser was the Vice President for Creative at Rockstar Games, and his duties included being a manager, writer, and producer there. Houser had been on leave from the studio starting Spring 2019 for undisclosed reasons.
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Much of Rockstar Games Success Attributed to Dan Houser
Rockstar Games is best known for its incredibly successful "Grand Theft Auto" game series as well as for "Red Dead Redemption." Houser was the writer for "Red Dead Redemption" and two other titles, namely "Bully" and "Max Payne 3". Part of the writing work for "Red Dead Redemption 2" is credited to Houser as well.
Brothers Sam and Dan Houser were co-founders of Rockstar Games in 1998. Sam will remain in the company retaining his role as President of Rockstar Games.
It is unknown how the departure of Dan Houser affects the ongoing development of "Grand Theft Auto 6". That game title is believed to be under development right now though there is no explicit acknowledgment from the company. What is certain is that Dan Houser's departure may impact on the future success of Rockstar Games.
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Rockstar Games Maintained 100-Hour Work weeks
Though there have not been significant disclosures from Rockstar Games, Dan Houser is believed to have been sticking to 100-hour workweeks to develop "Red Dead Redemption 2". The writing team of four people (including Dan Houser) applied themselves to the extended work hours. In turn, this disclosure by Dan Houser brought more attention to the work culture within the studio. Creative decisions like making the game visuals more cinematic by adding black bars to the top and bottom of the screen meant putting in more time in development. Part of the pressure was due to previous delays in the expected launch date of the game, so it was impossible to delay the launch date much more.
Changes to the game throughout the eight years of development included editing out many significant parts of the story. This resulted in much overtime for the developers to meet the tight deadlines. Employees may have been stressed out by this pressure and caused Rockstar Games to develop a reputation for being a high-pressure workplace. Despite the fame, Rockstar Games had problems keeping up with its own image as a cool place to work.
Dan Houser, Part of Most Influential People list of Time Magazine in 2009
Sam and Dan Houser were previously named two of the Most Influential People of 2009 by Time Magazine. It is reported that Sam and Dan Houser made it to that list due to their well-received efforts on the "Grand Theft Auto" game series. "Grand Theft Auto V" is now still regarded as a highly popular game title even though it was launched way back in 2013.
