Dan Houser, one of the big names behind Rockstar and the genius writer for Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, has been busy with his new studio, Absurd Ventures. Since he announced it last year, everyone’s been eager to see what “weird shit from desperate people” they’d be cooking up. Now, we finally have a clue, and yep, it sounds a bit like a GTA-style game.
A recent job listing at Absurd Ventures, particularly for a lead gameplay designer, spilled the beans about an “open-world action-adventure game.” While that’s a pretty broad description, it’s exciting because Absurd Ventures has hinted at doing all sorts of creative stuff, not just games.
The job ad explained, “Absurd Ventures is building narrative worlds, creating characters, and writing stories for a 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.” So, they’re not limiting themselves to just video games.
Last November, the studio teased two new universes, American Caper and A Better Paradise, with their first stories coming out in 2024. It’s still a mystery if the new open-world game is linked to these, but it’s clear the game won’t be ready by 2024.
Absurd Ventures is ramping up its team for this ambitious video game project. The lead gameplay designer role stands out by specifically mentioning “an open-world action-adventure game.” Other job listings, like for a senior art director, are more vague, focusing on the “overall visual direction of our projects” and creating “visually stunning and cohesive game worlds that captivate players.”
The lead gameplay designer will be key, tasked with heading a team of experts to deliver top-notch combat and third-person action across various game modes. Although details are scarce, this mystery project sounds right up Houser’s alley and something GTA and Red Dead fans should keep an eye on, even if it’s still years away.
In summary, Dan Houser and Absurd Ventures are definitely cooking up something exciting and massive, blending their knack for storytelling with the freedom of open-world gameplay. Fans of his previous work have a lot to look forward to, even if they have to wait a bit.