Dan Houser

Dan Houser (born 1973/1974) is an English[2] video game producer, writer, and voice actor, as well as the co-founder (along with his brother Sam) and former vice president of creativity for Rockstar Games.[5] As well as producing video games, Houser was the head writer for Rockstar Games,[6] being the lead for Bully, Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3. He has also written, or co-written, almost all of the titles in the Grand Theft Auto series.[6][7]

Dan Houser
Born1973/1974 (age 45–46)[1]
London, England
NationalityEnglish[2]
Alma materSt Paul's School, London
University of Oxford
OccupationVideo game producer, writer, voice actor
Years active1998–present
Known forGrand Theft Auto and Red Dead
Spouse(s)Krystyna[3]
FamilyWalter Houser (father)
Geraldine Moffat (mother)
Sam Houser (brother)
AwardsAIAS Hall of Fame Award (2014)[4]

Biography

Houser was born in London,[8] the son of British lawyer Walter Houser and actress Geraldine Moffat.[9][10] Houser studied Geography.[11] Despite wanting to be musicians, both Houser and his brother Sam had a fascination with storytelling from a young age. Growing up near a video library in London, they watched many American crime and cult films and Spaghetti Westerns. Houser has stated he is a fan of Walter Hill's film The Warriors,[12] and Rockstar Games went on to release a video game version of The Warriors in 2005.[12] In 1995, Houser got a part-time job at BMG Interactive testing CD-ROMs, although he wasn't a full-time employee until 1996.[9][13] Dan and Sam later became interested in a video game called Race'n'Chase which was being developed by DMA Design after getting a preview of the game. The Housers signed Race'n'Chase to BMG Interactive as the publisher and changed the name of the game to Grand Theft Auto.[14] Following the sale of BMG Interactive to Take-Two in 1998, Houser and his brother moved with the company to New York, where they founded Rockstar Games.[9] He has cited the 3D Mario and Zelda games on the Nintendo 64 as influences on his work.[15]

Houser has been credited as a producer for five Grand Theft Auto games, and also works as a writer and voice artist for the series. Despite the high profile of the Grand Theft Auto series, Houser and his brother have shied away from the celebrity spotlight, preferring to focus on the Rockstar Games brand rather than giving any one person the credit for the games' success.[16] In 2009, both Dan and Sam Houser appeared in Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2009 list.[17] In 2012, he bought a house in Brooklyn that once belonged to author Truman Capote.[18]

In February 2020, Rockstar Games's parent company, Take-Two Interactive, announced Houser's resignation from Rockstar Games. He left Rockstar on 11 March 2020, following an extended break in 2019.[19][20]

Video game credits

Producer

Writer

Voice actor

References
  1. Goldberg, Harold (14 October 2018). "How the West Was Digitized: The making of Rockstar Games' Red Dead Redemption 2". Vulture.
  2. "The Max Payne Comics Will Explain Why Rockstar's Hard-Boiled Cop Is So Messed-Up". Kotaku.com. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  3. Chaban, Matt (21 March 2012). "A Rockstar Record! Grand Theft Auto Creator Dan Houser Buys Truman Capote Mansion for $12.5 M." The New York Observer. Observer Media. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  4. "D.I.C.E Special Awards". Retrieved 22 January 2017.
  5. Stahie, Silviu. "Rockstar's Position on Critics". Softpedia. Archived from the original on 21 March 2007.
  6. Suellentrop, Chris (9 November 2012). "Americana at Its Most Felonious". The New York Times.
  7. "Grand Theft Auto V: meet Dan Houser, architect of a gaming phenomenon". The Guardian. 6 September 2013.
  8. "Sam and Dan Houser | MediaGuardian 100 2010 | Media". London: The Guardian. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  9. "Meet The Brains Behind Grand Theft Auto". Stuff.co. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
  10. "Behind Grand Theft Auto V: The 'Rockstar' creators of gaming's cult hit". Yahoo! News. 14 November 2012. Archived from the original on 17 November 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  11. Hill, Matt (7 September 2013). "Grand Theft Auto V: meet Dan Houser, architect of a gaming phenomenon". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  12. Schiesel, Seth (16 October 2005). "Gangs of New York". The New York Times.
  13. "Rockstar's Dan Houser: Big in Japan?". 1up.com. 26 October 2011. Archived from the original on 27 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  14. "The History of Grand Theft Auto". IGN. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  15. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/arts/video-games/q-and-a-rockstars-dan-houser-on-grand-theft-auto-v.html
  16. Ryan P. (18 May 2012). "Gaming Gods: Dan and Sam Houser". The Gamer's Hub. Archived from the original on 20 May 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  17. Matt Selman (30 April 2009). "Sam and Dan Houser - The 2009 TIME 100". Time Magazine. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  18. Dutton, Fred (21 March 2012). "Rockstar boss buys Truman Capote's New York mansion • News •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
  19. Campbell, Colin (4 February 2020). "Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser leaving the company". Polygon. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  20. Faulkner, Cameron (4 February 2020). "Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser is leaving the company". The Verge. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
  21. Phillips, Tom (15 October 2018). "Rockstar attempts to defuse 100-hour work week controversy amid storm of criticism". Eurogamer.
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