Dan Houser, the reclusive co-founder of Rockstar Games who gave almost no interviews during his 25-year career, sat down for his first live TV appearance on November 23, 2025. During Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, he explained what made Grand Theft Auto one of the most successful video game franchises in history. The answer wasn’t violence, graphics, or controversy. It was freedom. He also took shots at AI hype, calling much of it overrated and driven more by stock sales than actual capability.
Houser left Rockstar in 2020 amid reports of creative differences with his brother Sam, who still runs the company. Since then, he’s founded Absurd Ventures, written his first novel “A Better Paradise,” and started giving interviews after decades of silence. The Sunday Brunch appearance marked his most public moment yet, revealing insights about GTA’s origins and his skeptical view of gaming’s future.
Freedom Was the Secret Sauce
When asked what made GTA so successful, Houser acknowledged that part of it was letting players live out a version of themselves they couldn’t in real life. But he argued the real magic came from something deeper: the sense of freedom the games provided in an era when genres were rigidly defined.
“Before that, games were either a shooting game, or a driving game, or a simulation game, and it was all three smashed together in a way that felt very free,” Houser explained. “When people talk about the metaverse or this digital world, those were the first games that showed you this idea of just living in this fake place.”
The combination of shooting, driving, and exploration in one seamless open world was revolutionary when GTA 3 launched in 2001. Most games at the time forced players into narrow experiences. Racing games let you drive. Shooters let you shoot. GTA said you could do both, plus steal cars, complete missions, or just wander around causing chaos. That freedom became the franchise’s defining characteristic and influenced every open-world game that followed.
GTA 3 Launched After 9/11 and Nearly Didn’t Happen
Houser revealed that GTA 3 almost died in development hell. Rockstar was running out of money, and nobody outside the company was excited about the project. The team knew they were building something special, but convincing anyone else was difficult.
“I think all of the team felt, with GTA 3, which was the kind of big breakthrough one in 2001, we were very much running out of money at the time as a company,” Houser said. “I think all of the team thought, ‘This could be amazing. There’s something really magical about this.’ It was very raw and put together, but as it began to come together, it had these sort of moments of real innovation and real, kind of, it felt like the future in a way.”
The game released in October 2001, just two months after the September 11 attacks devastated New York City. GTA 3 was set in Liberty City, Rockstar’s fictionalized version of New York. The timing could have been disastrous, but instead the game found an audience hungry for escapism and freedom in a world that suddenly felt much more restricted and frightening.
“Until it came out, no one outside of our company was very excited by it,” Houser continued. “That came out just after 9/11 in late 2001, and as it came out, people started to get more excited about it.” That excitement turned into a phenomenon. GTA 3 sold millions of copies, established the template for modern open-world games, and set Rockstar on a path to become one of the most successful and influential studios in gaming.
Dan Houser Thinks AI Is Overrated
When the conversation turned to AI and the future of gaming, Houser didn’t hold back his skepticism. His new company Absurd Ventures is developing a game set in the world of his novel “A Better Paradise,” which features AI characters as part of the story. But Houser made it clear that incorporating AI into a narrative is very different from believing the technology can revolutionize game development.
“We are dabbling in using AI, but the truth is a lot of it’s not as useful as some of the companies would have you believe yet,” Houser said. “It’s not going to solve all of the problems, you know. We have a whole field of areas we need technology for and AI is great at some of the tasks and can’t do the other tasks yet.”
Houser suggested much of the AI hype is driven by financial incentives rather than actual technological breakthroughs. Companies promoting AI are often more interested in attracting investment and driving up stock prices than honestly representing what the technology can currently accomplish. “A lot of it is just to sell AI stock,” he implied, noting that many promises about AI’s capabilities require enormous investment and remain years away from reality.
He also pointed out that many processes being marketed as revolutionary AI are simply modern computing techniques that have existed for years. “It’s a hold-all term for all future computing,” Houser said. “Many of those processes are already performed by computers.” The AI label gets slapped on existing technology to make it sound more impressive and attract attention from investors and media.
Gaming’s Two Possible Futures
Houser was asked where gaming is headed now that AI is becoming part of the conversation. His answer reflected both optimism and caution about the industry’s direction. “It can go somewhere really interesting or somewhere that gets overly focused on making money,” Houser said. “I think there’s always that danger with any commercial art form that they get distracted by money.”
The former Rockstar creative director believes both paths will coexist. Some studios will focus on creating innovative narrative experiences that push gaming forward as an art form. Others will chase profits through microtransactions, live service games, and exploitative monetization schemes. Both approaches will find success, but they’ll serve different audiences and values.
“I think there’s still a big ceiling creatively to make these kind of living narrative experiences, and I think that was what we were always trying to do,” Houser added. His concern about gaming becoming overly focused on money feels particularly relevant given recent controversies around microtransactions, loot boxes, battle passes, and games that feel more like storefronts than experiences.
The Irony of Rockstar Defining Freedom
Houser’s comments about freedom as GTA’s defining characteristic sparked debate among players familiar with Rockstar’s recent games. While GTA offers open-world exploration, the mission design in both GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2 is notoriously rigid and linear. Deviate even slightly from the exact path developers intended and you fail the mission immediately.
YouTuber NakeyJakey created a viral video critiquing this contradiction, calling Rockstar’s mission design outdated compared to contemporary open-world games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In Zelda, players can approach challenges from any angle and solve problems creatively. In Rockstar games, missions are essentially interactive cutscenes that punish improvisation.
The tension between Rockstar’s open-world philosophy and restrictive mission design highlights how gaming’s understanding of freedom has evolved since GTA 3. What felt revolutionary in 2001 now feels constraining compared to games that genuinely let players experiment and approach objectives from multiple angles. Rockstar defined open-world freedom, then got locked into a specific vision of what that freedom means while other developers pushed the concept further.
What Dan Is Working On Now
Since leaving Rockstar, Houser founded Absurd Ventures, a multimedia company creating content across video games, podcasts, comics, novels, and live-action productions. His first novel “A Better Paradise: Volume One – An Aftermath” launched recently through Simon & Schuster. The story explores what happens when an AI revolution goes wrong, reflecting Houser’s skepticism about technology’s promises.
A game set in the Better Paradise universe is in development, though it’s still “a few years” from release. Houser said the game started development about 18 months ago and won’t tell the exact same story as the novel. Absurd Ventures is also working on other projects across different mediums, though details remain scarce.
Houser is clearly enjoying his freedom after leaving Rockstar. He’s giving interviews, signing books at public events, and building new creative universes without the constraints of running a massive AAA studio. Whether Absurd Ventures can capture the magic that made GTA legendary remains to be seen, but at least Houser is trying something new rather than retreading old ground.
FAQs
Why did Dan Houser leave Rockstar Games?
Dan Houser left Rockstar in 2020 amid reports of creative disagreements with his brother Sam about the company’s future direction. Neither brother has publicly confirmed the reasons, but insider sources suggest fundamental differences in vision led to Dan’s departure.
What is Dan Houser doing now?
Dan Houser founded Absurd Ventures in 2021, a multimedia company creating content across games, books, comics, podcasts, and film. He recently published his first novel “A Better Paradise” and is developing a game set in that universe.
What made Grand Theft Auto successful according to Dan Houser?
Houser says GTA succeeded because it offered freedom by combining shooting, driving, and simulation in one open world when games typically focused on single genres. He calls GTA one of the first games to show players the concept of living in a digital world.
What does Dan Houser think about AI in gaming?
Houser is skeptical about AI hype, saying much of it is overrated and driven by companies trying to sell stock rather than representing actual capabilities. He admits Absurd Ventures is “dabbling” with AI but warns it can’t solve all problems yet.
Was Dan Houser involved in GTA 6?
No, Dan Houser left Rockstar before GTA 6’s development reached full production. This will be the first mainline GTA game without his creative input since the franchise began.
When did GTA 3 release?
GTA 3 launched in October 2001 for PlayStation 2, just two months after the September 11 attacks. Despite the unfortunate timing given the game’s New York setting, it became a massive success and transformed the franchise.
Why is Dan Houser suddenly giving interviews?
After giving almost no interviews during his 25-year career at Rockstar, Houser is now promoting his new book and Absurd Ventures projects. He appeared on podcasts and made his first live TV appearance on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch in November 2025.
Is Rockstar too focused on making money?
Houser warned that gaming faces the danger of becoming “overly focused on making money” rather than creating innovative experiences. He believes both paths will coexist, with some studios chasing profits while others prioritize creative narrative experiences.
Conclusion
Dan Houser’s rare public appearance reminded us why Grand Theft Auto became a cultural phenomenon. It wasn’t the violence that politicians blamed or the controversy that media outlets amplified. It was freedom. The freedom to explore, experiment, and exist in a digital world that felt alive and responsive. That vision defined a generation of open-world games and influenced everything from Saints Row to Red Dead Redemption to The Witcher 3. His skepticism about AI hype also feels refreshing in an industry where everyone seems desperate to jump on the latest trend regardless of whether it actually works. Houser isn’t interested in selling AI stock. He’s interested in making games that tell meaningful stories and give players agency. Whether Absurd Ventures can deliver on that promise remains to be seen, but at least Houser is being honest about the challenges rather than making empty promises about revolutionary technology that doesn’t exist yet. The gaming industry needs more voices like his, voices that remember games are supposed to be about player freedom and creative experiences, not just maximizing profit through predatory monetization. GTA defined open-world freedom in 2001. The question now is whether anyone, including Houser himself, can recapture that magic in 2025 and beyond.