Rockstar Games Boss Dan Houser Leaving The GTA And Red Dead Developer

Dan Houser, the vice president of creative at Rockstar Games–developer of the GTA and Red Dead Redemption series–is leaving the company.

The news was shared by Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two in an SEC filing, which comes just days before Take-Two delivers its latest earnings report. A brief statement reveals Houser had been on an “extended break” beginning last spring and that March 11, 2020 will be his final day with the studio.

“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,” Take-Two said.

Along with his brother Sam, Dan Houser was one of the co-founders of Rockstar, which has become one of the world’s biggest game developers on the strength of the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead series. Rockstar recently revealed that Grand Theft Auto V was the best-selling game of the last decade in the US, based on dollar sales. Despite being released in 2013, the game remains a juggernaut thanks in part to ports to current-gen consoles and PC, as well as the continued development of GTA Online. That same announcement confirmed that Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar’s most recent release, was the best-selling game of the last four years in the US, again based on dollar sales.

We have reached out to Rockstar for further comment and will report back with anything we receive. Take-Two has confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Sam Houser’s role “remains unchanged.”