Insights from the Dan Houser, GTA Creator on the Past and the Future of Gaming
Co-founder of Rockstar Games and writer for some of the most revered titles of all time, including Red Dead Redemption 2, Dan Houser recently spent nearly three hours talking to Lex Fridman on his podcast. These were his first thoughts since leaving the company in 2020 to start his new venture Absurd Ventures. They delved deeply into the creative process, success with the GTA series, and the impact of emerging artificial intelligence.
Favorite Protagonist of Grand Theft Auto: Niko Bellic
When requested to name his favorite character from the series, the choices fell on Niko Bellic, star of Grand Theft Auto IV. The co-founder described him as the most groundbreaking and in some ways, morally acceptable character in the franchise.
"He does a lot of stuff where he's fighting for what's right. He's the nicest person in some ways... I think he's the most innovative protagonist of a GTA game."
In praising Houser, he was also known to give accolades to other characters, highlighting the humanity Maylay incorporated into CJ in San Andreas in Unreal's undervalued but critical performance by Ned Luke in GTA V's character Michael.
What Makes GTA Successful
According to Houser, time between each edition is one factor that serves well for the Grand Theft Auto franchise. He said, "For example, the long waits between installments usually create hype for the next part of the film, which leads to great sales after release." He also explained that his argument is based on Rockstar's proven effort to constantly push the medium for innovation and development. Based on this, he further predicted that Grand Theft Auto VI, which, he said, he did not write for, will sell "really well" when it comes out in 2026.
The Point of View on Generative AI in Creative Domains
In response to the subject of generative AI and large language models (LLMs), Houser was a bit conservative. AI will not replace the good ideas, or "magic," in creative work; it is, however, likely to be confined to producing cheap, decent, low-level content.
"If you're not a very good concept artist, you're in a lot of trouble. If you have original ideas, I think you're fine... I don't think they're going to come up with magic. I think they're going to be fantastic at coming up with really cheap, decent stuff."
He further added that while it managed 90-95% of sounding human at the first stage, the final 5% of polish, often taken as the most difficult hurdle in the creative tech arena, would pose huge problems in completing that with artificial intelligence.
Updates on Games from Absurd Ventures
Houser did confirm that Absurd Ventures was indeed home to the development of games. One of them derives from his universe called "A Better Paradise," which is a dystopia set in the near future. In early development at the Santa Monica studio is then, a second open-world game based on another universe called "Absurdaverse." In fact, this game will take several more years to finish.
