Rockstar is one of the biggest gaming studios in the world right now, with some of the most successful titles like GTA, Bully and the Red Dead Redemption Series. All of this was achieved under the leadership of their founders, Dan Houser and his brother, Sam Houser.
But the power duo won’t be a duo anymore, as Dan Houser will be leaving the company. His departure was notified in a United States Securities and Exchange Commission filing made by Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive.
The filing explained that he will be leaving Rockstar after he took an “extended break” beginning in 2019. His date of leaving will be March 11, 2020. The official statement in the filing reads:
“After an extended break beginning in the spring of 2019, Dan Houser, Vice President, Creative at Rockstar Games, will be leaving the company. Dan Houser’s last day will be March 11, 2020. We are extremely grateful for his contributions. Rockstar Games has built some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful game worlds, a global community of passionate fans and an incredibly talented team, which remains focused on current and future projects.”
Dan Houser has been very instrumental in Rockstar’s success. He was the lead writer for the GTA series, Bully and Red Dead Redemption, which have been Rockstar’s biggest success. No further details regarding his departure have been made public yet, nor his replacement been announced yet. Sam Houser will retain his current position.
Dan Houser was a co-founder of the company, the lead writer on most of their games including GTAV (the third-best-selling game of all time), and one of the two men most responsible for Rockstar's culture. His departure will undoubtedly have a lot of ripple effects
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) February 4, 2020
I don't know (and don't want to speculate) what Dan Houser's departure will mean for GTAVI or other games. I'm way more interested in how it'll impact Rockstar's culture, which, from what I've heard, has been rapidly improving since reports from Kotaku and others in Oct 2018
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) February 5, 2020
According to BBC, after the announcement of Dan’s departure, Take-Two Interactive’s stocks fell by 5%.