Ex-Rockstar Boss Dan Houser Won't Play GTA 6 – Here's Why

Dan Houser, former Rockstar co-boss, avoids open-world games and won't play GTA 6 to stay creatively uninfluenced while working on his new projects at Absurd Ventures.

Ever wonder why some game developers avoid playing their own genre? Dan Houser, the former co-boss of Rockstar Games and creative director on Grand Theft Auto, doesn't play many open-world games – and he's not planning to play GTA 6 either. But there's a good reason: he doesn't want to be influenced.

In an interview with Variety, Houser explained that he spends most of his time making open-world games and figuring out innovative ways to market them. "I don't need to see what other people are [doing]," he said. "I'm always trying to think about new ways of doing it, not sit there in some kind of comparison of what I would have done differently."

Houser also said it's not his job to understand what everyone else is doing. He's focused on new ideas. For example, when working on Red Dead Redemption, he never watched another Western. He also never watched The Sopranos until after he left Rockstar – he only saw the finale in real time with his girlfriend-now-wife, then watched the whole series during COVID. "It's so good that it would have disrupted everything I did on GTA, had I watched at the time," he admitted. "So I really try and avoid things that I think are going to overly influence me."

When he does play other open-world games, Houser finds it distracting. "I can almost deconstruct the strengths and weaknesses of the team in real time," he said. "I'm always thinking, 'Well, their animation team is weak, but I think this game design is fantastic.' And, 'Oh, I can imagine that meeting when they discuss this feature.'" He describes himself not as a game designer but as a creative director, always looking for new things that haven't been done before, or borrowing from older media for inspiration.

Houser's new company, Absurd Ventures, is currently working on two games. The studio has already released American Caper, a graphic novel series. Its double-sized season-finale issue drops next month – a week before GTA 6 – along with the book "A Better Paradise."

So while the world eagerly awaits GTA 6, Houser is deliberately staying away. It's a fascinating look at how some creators protect their creative process. What do you think? Would you avoid playing games in your own genre if you were making one? Let us know in the comments!