Key GTA 6 Story Detail Confirmed By Rockstar Co-Founder Ahead Of Launch
Speaking in an interview, Rockstar Games co-founder and former creative director/head writer Dan Houser confirmed that Grand Theft Auto VI will be the first game in the series since the original written without his direct involvement.
While this is shocking to hear in isolation, particularly considering his highly-praised writing for Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, and even Bully, it's not surprising when one considers he left Rockstar for his own projects at Absurd Ventures back in 2020. But Rockstar was founded by Dan Houser and his brother Sam, and in the decades since it started, has also brought on many other writers and developers who have helped shape the company, so it isn't like the series is not in good hands.
As-is, Rockstar Games is taking an approach to Grand Theft Auto VI that is heavily inspired by the fiction and non-fiction stories of criminal couple Bonnie and Clyde, and we've already seen evidence that the game's usual approach to social satire is intact. We've previously reported on a number of web domains tied to GTA VI's modern app parodies registered by Take-Two, and both trailers we've seen so far show that GTA 6 is staying true to the series' sometimes-serious, sometimes-goofy overall tone. Ahead of what Rockstar is internally calling "the largest game launch of all time," we do believe that Dan Houser's enthusiasm is legitimate.
But what of Dan Houser himself? Well, the extended IGN interview with Dan Houser at LA Comic Con 2025 indicates that most of his focus is on his own projects these days, handling darker and grittier stories than he would be tackling with more mass-market Rockstar titles.
Houser also states that he believes Red Dead Redemption 2 is the best game he ever worked on. It does sound like Dan is looking forward to playing a Grand Theft Auto game as another member of the audience rather than the writer, though, and we imagine it'll be a fuzzy feeling to see how well the house he built has grown on his foundations. He says it's "Not going to be a story I wrote or a character set that I developed, but I think it's going to be exciting. The game will be great, I'm sure."
Image Credit: Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar Games
