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Dan Houser leaves Rockstar Games in March 2020

Rockstar Vice President and longtime lead writer Dan Houser is preparing to leave Rockstar Games and Take Two Interactive in March 2020.

TJ Denzer

February 4, 2020 2:49 PM

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It’s the end of an era at Rockstar Games. Vice President of Creativity Dan Houser is set to leave the company and move on, as per a recently procured document from Take-Two Interactive. After more than 20 years with Rockstar Games, Houser will be exiting Rockstar Games in March of 2020.

Dan Houser’s leaving of Rockstar was discovered in a document detailing his exit on February 4, 2020, as posted by video game news and leak source Nibel on Twitter. Nibel posted the letter which designates the final day of Houser’s employment with Rockstar Games as March 11, 2020. The letter is signed by Take-Two representative Matthew Breitman Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of Take-Two Interactive.

Dan Houser leaves Rockstar Gameshttps://t.co/yqaaD6DRky pic.twitter.com/H2JFPsmHqq

— Nibel (@Nibellion) February 4, 2020

It comes as a shock to say the least. Dan and his brother, Sam Houser, have worked at Rockstar Games since the launch of the very first Grand Theft Auto. Dan’s career began on Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 in 1999, and he has worked on nearly every Rockstar game since as a writer or producer. To say his writing and direction has been the backbone of most of the Rockstar Games library would be accurate.

It is unknown what Dan may have been actively working on at this time. Red Dead Redemption 2 has launched on PC, Grand Theft Auto Online still runs strong, and the world is waiting patiently to hear anything new about Grand Theft Auto 6, but outside of maintenance and expansions on the first two games, there hasn’t been a word on new major projects coming out of Rockstar outside of the claim that GTA 6 was in early development back in 2015.

That said, Dan’s contributions to Rockstar Games and, indeed, gaming history are solidified to say the least. Many memories have been made on the back of Houser’s writing and narratives throughout the Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead, Bully, and other Rockstar franchises. Whatever comes next, Shacknews wishes Dan Houser the best.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.