GTA 6 Will Be First Game Without Dan Houser’s
Grand Theft Auto VI will mark a significant milestone for the legendary franchise—it will be the first mainline game developed without any writing input from Dan Houser, the co-founder and longtime creative lead at Rockstar Games. The revelation came directly from Houser himself in a recent interview, confirming what many fans had suspected but hadn’t known for certain.
Houser, who left Rockstar in 2020 after serving as lead writer on every major title from Grand Theft Auto through Red Dead Redemption 2, explicitly stated that GTA VI features entirely new storytelling. “It’s not going to be a story I wrote or a character set that I developed,” he told IGN, while expressing confidence in his successors: “I think it’s going to be exciting. The game will be great, I’m sure.”
The longtime writer reflected on his extensive contributions to the series, noting he’d written “the last 10 or 11” GTA games and that “the world’s probably had enough GTA from me.” His departure marks the end of an era for the franchise he helped shape from its earliest days.
The gaming community has reacted with mixed emotions to this confirmation. Some fans expressed concern about the loss of Houser’s distinctive voice, with one Reddit user calling it “a bit sad to know officially this is the first GTA game without any of his input.” However, others pushed back against the idea that Houser was solely responsible for Rockstar’s success, with another commenter stating, “I think the idea that Houser was the only reason R* released the calibre of games they have is disrespectful to all the devs that worked their asses off.”
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The revelation also provides insight into GTA VI’s development timeline, suggesting the game’s story was likely written after Houser’s 2020 departure. Despite this significant creative shift, fans remain optimistic given that other veteran Rockstar writers like Michael Unsworth remain with the company, ensuring some continuity in the franchise’s storytelling approach.