Rockstar Games co-founder and co-creator of the Grand Theft Auto franchise Dan Houser has been toiling away at his new studio, Absurd Ventures, for a few years now. What little Houser and company have shown has lived up to its name: So far, they’ve delivered an absurd, context-free reveal video back in 2023, 12 episodes of a narrative podcast, and some mission statements and non sequitur.
On Friday, Absurd Ventures offered a first look at what it’s calling the Absurdaverse, in the form of artwork of some 20 characters that will populate its universe. It’s an eclectic mix of men and women; surly teens and adult professionals; vikings and the undead; and hipsters, nerds, and burnouts. In a caption sent to press with the artwork, Absurd Ventures teased, “Prepare to meet some new kinds of heroes (and watch them suffer).”
Absurd Ventures said it will introduce its new IP with “animation projects” later this year. The studio is also working on an “original story-driven action-comedy adventure game” set in the Absurdaverse, but did not share further details.
Rockstar announced in February 2020 that Dan Houser was leaving the company he co-founded, following an extended break that came after Red Dead Redemption 2’s 2018 launch. Houser started Rockstar Games with his brother Sam in 1998. Rockstar is best known for the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption series, as well as titles like Bully, Manhunt, and L.A. Noire. Dan Houser served as lead writer of Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, two of the biggest games, by sales, of the previous decade.
Dan Houser revealed his Absurd Ventures in 2023, promising to “create new IP across all platforms and for all formats.”
“We are building Absurd Ventures to create new universes and to tell great stories, wherever and however we can,” Houser said in a news release at the time. Absurd Ventures said it seeks to build narrative worlds and characters “for a diverse variety of genres, without regard to medium, to be produced for live-action and animation; video games and other interactive content; books, graphic novels, and scripted podcasts.”
Houser’s former company plans to release the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto 6 later this year.
The post Rockstar Games co-founder teases his new game in absurd, Rockstar style appeared first on Polygon.
