Dan Houser is a video game writer and producer who co-founded Rockstar Games with his brother, Sam Houser. He served as Rockstar's vice president of creative and was a leading writer on the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption series before leaving the company in March 2020.1

Career at Rockstar Games

Dan and Sam Houser helped establish Rockstar Games in 1998. Dan's work combined writing, production and creative direction across several Rockstar series. Official credits for Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City, for example, name him among the writers responsible for the games' cutscenes and dialogue.2

His Rockstar credits include major entries in Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption and Bully. Those games made him one of the studio's most recognizable creative figures, although Rockstar generally presented their development as the work of large teams rather than a single creator.

Departure from Rockstar

Take-Two Interactive announced in February 2020 that Houser would leave Rockstar after an extended break. His final day was March 11, 2020.3 GTA BOOM's contemporary report explains the departure and its immediate context. He was therefore no longer serving as Rockstar's vice president of creative during the later public development and promotion of Grand Theft Auto VI.

Absurd Ventures

Houser later founded Absurd Ventures, a media company developing original projects across games, audio fiction, books and comics. Its announced work includes the A Better Paradise science-fiction universe and the American Caper crime series.4

Recognition

In 2014, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences inducted Dan Houser, Sam Houser and Leslie Benzies into its Hall of Fame for their contributions to Rockstar's games and the development of the open-world genre.1

Dan Houser, as portrayed by Ian Keir Attard, along with his brother, Sam Houser, played by Daniel Radcliffe, in the 2015 film, The Gamechangers.

References

  1. AIAS Hall of Fame: Rockstar, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, published February 4, 2014.

  2. Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes from Liberty City PC manual, Rockstar Games, accessed July 28, 2026.

  3. Take-Two Interactive Form 8-K: Dan Houser departure, Take-Two Interactive, filed February 4, 2020.

  4. Smilegate to publish Absurd Ventures' A Better Paradise game, Smilegate and Absurd Ventures, published August 6, 2025.