Ex-GTA Lead Dan Houser: GTA Comparisons Are 'No Greater Compliment'

Dan Houser, former Rockstar lead, says being compared to his GTA classics is a huge compliment, but hopes his new Absurd Ventures projects succeed on their own.

Ever wondered what it's like to have your entire career defined by the games you made decades ago? Dan Houser, the former lead writer behind some of the biggest Grand Theft Auto titles, knows that feeling all too well. And he's surprisingly chill about it.

In a recent chat with Variety, Houser opened up about life after Rockstar. He left the studio he co-founded in 2020 and started Absurd Ventures, which is now juggling a bunch of multimedia projects and a couple of games—including at least one open-world romp. But the shadow of GTA is never far behind.

"In terms of will I always be compared to it? I don’t know," Houser said. "I mean, hopefully, on some level there could be no greater compliment. On another level, I hope some of the stuff we make is going to be successful in its own right." He added that making good things is never a problem, but if the new stuff doesn't land as hard, that's going to sting. Still, he calls it a privilege to make anything at all—otherwise you're just drowning in your own past work.

That's a pretty healthy mindset for someone who helped shape one of the biggest franchises in gaming. Houser admits there was plenty of pressure back in the day, too. "Certainly, there was a lot of pressure making any GTA game when I was on them," he explained. But he coped by focusing on making games with as much integrity as he could muster, and creating something he could be proud of.

His philosophy? Ask if the work feels fresh and new. If it does, let the results fall where they may. Even the Rockstar games that weren't massive successes—he was proud of them if the team did a good job. And that same attitude applies now at Absurd Ventures. "We can't sit there going, 'If it's not the biggest thing ever, I'm a failure,'" he said. Because then you're stuck processing success and failure the same way. For Houser, the real work is the creative work, not what the market thinks.

Interestingly, Houser is even avoiding GTA 6 so it doesn't distract or disrupt his new games. That's some serious dedication to starting fresh. So, what do you think? Can Absurd Ventures step out of GTA's shadow, or will every project forever be compared to the classics? Let us know in the comments.