Rockstar Games Co-Founder Left Due to Disagreement With Brother About Studio’s Direction – Rumour

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Rockstar Games is currently dealing with backlash over laying off 34 employees, with some calling it an attempt to prevent unionization. Now, people are also starting to question why Dan Houser, a co-founder of the studio, left in 2020. On the GTA Forums, users are suggesting that Houser may have left because he disagreed with the company’s new direction.

Although it’s not confirmed, reliable Grand Theft Auto leaker Tez2 has shared their perspective on why Sam Houser left Rockstar Games. According to Tez2, Houser’s exit stemmed from disagreements with his brother regarding the company’s future. The leaker also believes the departure wasn’t related to Rockstar’s efforts to prevent unionization, suggesting Houser would have left much earlier – in 2018 – if that were the case.

According to two former developers, he departed because of a disagreement with his brother regarding the company’s future. Tez2 noted that if the reason was related to preventing unionization or poor working conditions, he likely would have resigned in 2018 to address a comment highlighted in a Schreier article.

This post was created after another user wondered what was happening at Rockstar Games, particularly drawing parallels between recent events and the reasons behind Dan Houser’s exit.

One user wrote that while we may never understand why Dan Houser left Rockstar Games, it’s clear things aren’t going well there. They found it strange to pretend everything is fine, especially with reports of issues from current employees and the ongoing controversy surrounding the company’s efforts to prevent unionization.

Dan Houser left Rockstar Games in February 2020, not long after the huge success of Red Dead Redemption 2. He’d been a key figure in many of Rockstar’s biggest games, including the original Grand Theft Auto 3. While he’s stated he wasn’t heavily involved in writing the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6, this is probably connected to reports from 2021 that the game’s development was restarted in 2020 – around the time Houser left the company.

Rockstar Games recently let go of 34 employees after updating its Slack usage policies. The changes included removing several non-work-related channels, which significantly limited how employees could connect with each other outside of work tasks.

The recent layoffs have sparked strong criticism from employees and the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB). The IWGB is holding protests at Rockstar Games offices, demanding greater responsibility and transparency from the company’s leadership.

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2025-11-26 20:12