Rockstar Games veteran Dan Houser reportedly filed for two new trademarks earlier this year under the name of his new studio, Absurd Ventures. Dan Houser was one of the Senior Creatives and Writers at Rockstar Games where he worked for two decades.
This has opened speculations that Houser could be getting back to game development in his new studio which was officially incorporated back in June 2021. It’s early days at the moment to figure out what the trademarks could lead to. Absurd Ventures has a rather cryptic website at the moment, and their social media accounts also have the same cryptic content from the website.
Dan Houser’s Absurd Ventures Files for Two Trademarks, American Caper and A Better Paradise
Dan Houser is well-known in the gaming industry, having been involved in five Grand Theft Auto titles as a writer and voice artist for the franchise. Rockstar Games’ parent company Take-Two Interactive announced Houser’s resignation from Rockstar in February 2020, following which Houser officially left the studio a month later.
A year later by February 2021, Houser registered two companies, Absurd Ventures LLC and Absurd Ventures in Games LLC. Back in June this year, Houser announced his studio, Absurd Ventures, will “create new IP across all platforms and for all formats.”
Houser’s venture now has two trademarks, one for American Caper and another for A Better Paradise. Both trademarks have mentions of “Downloadable computer software for playing video and computer games” among many other gaming and non-gaming elements, like printed materials, clothing, and entertainment.
Absurd Ventures also roped in the ex-head of Communications Creative Artists Agency for seven years, Wendy Smith as the Chief Operating Officer. Smith has also held several influential positions in her long career and revealed that Absurd Ventures “has been busy” for a while now. Smith also mentioned in her interview with Variety there will be “more announcements in the weeks ahead about projects that we’re already in pre-production and production on those IP universes.”
Absurd Ventures Poaches More GTA Veterans from Rockstar Games
Houser also brought in his former colleagues who were involved in Grand Theft Auto projects. Michael Unsworth was the VP of Writing and left Rockstar Games earlier this year after spending 16 years in the studio. Unsworth later joined Houser’s studio as the Head of Story & Creative Management.
Lazlow Jones was another major departure from Rockstar Games having left the studio in 2020. Jones was well-known for his work on in-game radio stations in several GTA titles. Jones had also worked in several other franchises and joined Absurd Ventures as an Executive Producer. Adam Tedman, who had also spent nearly two decades at Rockstar Games, and nearly four years at Saber Interactive after that, has now joined Houser as the Head of Marketing.
Finally, another notable name at Absurd Venture is the Head of Games for Houser’s studio, Greg Borrud. Borrud is known for being the co-founder of Pandemic Studios, the studio behind the Star Wars Battlefront games. New recruitment advertisements have also been spotted by a user in GTA Forums.
The post on LinkedIn mentions Absurd Ventures as a “Console and PC Developer” working on a AAA title, currently looking for these roles in the studio: Senior Producers, Senior Tech Directors, Senior Art Directors, and Lead Designers. Roles not related to gaming have also been mentioned in the same post, those being related to Animated Series and Audio Fiction, and a part-time Bookkeeper.
Knowing Houser’s work at Rockstar Games, several comments on a Reddit post have got fans showing their support for whatever the studio brings out when it’s time. While there is hope and excitement for a brand-new AAA title, some fans have mentioned their fears as well, as legacy developers coming together to work towards a new title has rarely worked out.
For now, the gaming community is mostly waiting for the next GTA title which is expected to get a first-look reveal early next month, as announced by Rockstar Games.
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