Dan Houser wondered if he even wanted to continue living in America.
Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser told Lex Fridman's podcast how his personal experiences and corporate turmoil influenced Grand Theft Auto 4. The game, released in 2008, turned out to be unexpectedly dark due to the life crisis of Houser, who lived in New York.
I lived in New York for several years and wasn't sure if I was happy. I was going through a lot of personal dramas, as usual. I recently rewatched GTA 4 — it's really dark, and I thought, "Oh, that's why." I was lonely and unhappy, and didn't know if I wanted to stay in America.
Personal problems were compounded by the chaos at Rockstar itself: the Hot Coffee scandal in GTA: San Andreas. A modification found by hackers allowed players to play a mini-game with sexual undertones, which led to the game being pulled from shelves, re-rated to Adults Only, lawsuits, and hearings in the US Congress.
After the success of GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas, life suddenly became very unstable, and that seeped into GTA 4. For about a year, I rode with cops, met people, and wandered around New York.
