Brother to brother: Dan Houser poaches experienced developers from Rockstar Games to his own Absurd Ventures studio

In 2020, there was a rift between the founders of the legendary game studio Rockstar Games. As a result of this event, the youngest of the brothers, Dan Houser, left the company he co-founded with Sam Houser and gave more than 20 years of his life to it.

In the summer of 2023, it was reported that Dan had started his own gaming company Absurd Ventures and appeared to be actively poaching his former colleagues.

Here's What We Know

Online users noticed that two experienced developers from Rockstar Games listed Absurd Ventures studio as their place of work.

We're talking about Jeffrey Crawford Jones, better known as Lazlow Jones, and Michael Unsworth, the former vice president of Rockstar's scripting department.

Lazlow Jones indicated on his Linkedin page that he is a co-founder of Absurd Ventures Studios and an executive producer, with more to come from 2021.

Michael Unsworth, who left his post at Rockstar in the summer of 2023, became Absurd Ventures' head of storytelling and creative management.

Of course, such experienced and talented developers will be able to surprise gamers, but it probably won't happen anytime soon. Although, as a reminder, yesterday it became known that Absurd Ventures filed two applications for registration of trademarks American Caper and A Better Paradise last summer.

Source: VGC, Linkedin