Absurd Ventures

And then, uh, there was a, there was a cut scene and I did it again." And not to say that there's only one way to make a video game, but I sorta see his point in that.

And he's got, he's got the pedigree to back it up, and he's making new open world games now with, uh, Absurd Ventures.

And hearing someone say that kind of stuff, I'm, I'm kinda like, "That's a really interesting philosophy," because this is a, this is a thing that movies can't do, right? Movies, movies can't copy the, the chaos of an open world game, of how much stuff happens between the set pieces and between the big story beats that becomes your story, you know? And, and so, yeah, I think that, that was kind of, uh, inspiring.

And so I'm, I'm hopeful.

He's got his new girlfriend.

He's got his, um, his new studio, Absurd Ventures.

They're working on two new games.

Uh, that should be pretty exciting.

He helped build, build that company and drove it up to what it is today, made it what it is today with his bro and all the amazing people around him.

But now he has Lazlow and, uh, who else does he have with him? He has someone else with him from part of the original Rockstar team.

And, you know, they're together at Absurd Ventures creating, and they're gonna make some great stuff together.

And that's great because I think we might see more of that angsty rockstar kinda come back.

He's dodging spoilers like they're landmines to keep his creative mojo intact.

Since ditching Rockstar in 2020 to launch Absurd Ventures, Dan's been laser-focused on cooking up his own open world masterpieces, purposely avoiding other open world games like they're bad sequels.

His motto, "Innovate, don't imitate." Right now, his new studio is juggling two open world projects.

One's a comedy action adventure, the other's a bit more serious.

As the co-founder and former head writer of Rockstar Games, he masterminded the multi-billion dollar Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption franchises.

Now, he's building a new transmedia empire as the founder of Absurd Ventures, creating expansive new worlds like the Absurdaverse, meant to span video games, TV, and audio fiction.

Joining us to discuss studio financing, the evolution of storytelling, and the business of cross-media expansion is Dan Houser.

[upbeat music] Well, thank you for joining me today, Dan.

So would you like [chuckles] to try and do that as briefly as possible?

I'll try.

I run an entertainment company called Absurd Ventures that, uh, is trying to, uh, make new IP and exploit it in lots of different ways.

And I used to help to run a company called Rockstar Games.