Dan Houser Considers GTA Comparison "The Best Compliment," But Wants His New Games to Succeed on Their Own
The developer wants to offer players something new.
Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser, the creator of Grand Theft Auto, no longer works at that studio. He is now working on new projects at his own company, Absurd Ventures. In a recent interview with Variety, he spoke about his approach to game development and his attitude towards his games being compared to GTA.
According to Dan Houser, being compared to GTA is, in some ways, “the best compliment” for him, but he still wishes his new projects would succeed on their own:
As for whether my games will be compared [to GTA] — I don't know. In some ways, I hope it's the best compliment one can receive. On the other hand, I hope some of our projects can succeed on their own. There's no problem with having done good things, but of course, if the new doesn't turn out to be as significant, it will be somewhat disappointing. But it's still a privilege to create anything. Otherwise, you'll just be forever drowned in your own past works.
He also said that he felt “immense pressure” while working on GTA and shared his way of dealing with it:
I asked myself, am I creating something as high-quality as I possibly can, and am I doing something I will be proud of? Does it feel fresh and new? If so, let the outcome be whatever it may. And even if Rockstar games weren't successful, I was still proud of them if I felt we had done a good job. [With new projects] it will be the same. We can't sit and think, 'If this isn't the greatest thing ever, then I'm a failure.' Because then you have to decide who you are — a failure or a successful person — and it still feels the same. The creative work itself is important, not what the market thinks of it.
Dan Houser has not yet announced when he plans to release his new games, and Grand Theft Auto VI is scheduled for release on November 19, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles.
