Dan Houser Says He Doesn't Plan to Play GTA 6

Dan Houser, the former co-boss of Rockstar Games and former creative director of Grand Theft Auto, does not plan to play GTA 6. According to IGN, the decision is connected to the creative work he is now doing at Absurd Ventures. Houser wants to avoid outside influences while developing his own projects.

The veteran explained that he spends much of his time trying to make open-world games and the rest thinking about innovative ways to market them. Because of that, he does not feel a need to follow what other teams are doing. His priority is finding new approaches rather than comparing decisions and considering what he would have done differently.

Houser also said his role at the companies where he has worked was never to understand everything their competitors were making. In his view, creative direction requires searching for paths that have not been explored. Consuming work that closely resembles his own projects could interfere with that process.

This approach is not limited to GTA 6 or open-world video games. Houser said he stopped watching Westerns once the team began working on Red Dead Redemption. The goal was to prevent other productions in the genre from having too much influence on his decisions.

He took a similar precaution with The Sopranos during his time at Rockstar. Houser had watched only one episode, the series finale, live with his then-girlfriend and now-wife. He watched the entire show during the COVID pandemic and concluded that its quality could have disrupted his GTA work if he had seen it earlier.

That concern also explains why Houser plays few open-world games. When trying one, he said he begins identifying the development team's strengths and weaknesses in real time. Instead of simply playing, he starts analyzing how the different parts of the project were built.

Houser used the example of noticing a weak animation team while simultaneously recognizing excellent game design. He also finds himself imagining the meetings in which particular features were discussed. This process of deconstructing a game makes the experience professionally distracting for him.

The former Rockstar executive stressed that he does not consider himself a game designer, but a kind of creative director. His objective is to find ideas that have not been attempted or draw inspiration from older media. His decision not to approach GTA 6 as a player fits within that creative method.

Absurd Ventures is currently working on two games, although the report does not detail how those projects will be structured. Houser connected his distance from other open worlds to the effort of developing and marketing his own creations. The choice was not presented as criticism of the new GTA or Rockstar's current work.

Absurd Ventures has also released the American Caper graphic novel series. According to IGN, its oversized season-finale issue was due the month after the report, one week before GTA 6, alongside the book A Better Paradise. That schedule places Houser's new work close to the release of his former series, even though he does not plan to play its next entry.

For players awaiting GTA 6, the statement does not change its price, platforms, access or any feature of the game. It primarily offers insight into how one of the series' former creative leaders protects his creative process. The source also gives no indication that Houser is involved in current development or that his decision affects Rockstar's production.

It remains unknown whether Houser might play GTA 6 after completing his current projects. The report does not say how much he knows about the game or provide further details about Absurd Ventures' two titles. For now, his decision is to avoid the experience and reduce possible creative influence. Houser made the comments to Variety, and they were reported by IGN.