Only a few days ago did the news break that Dan Houser, one of the co-founders of Rockstar Games announced his departure from the company. Almost immediately rumors began swirling claiming he had been ousted from the company following his year-long sabbatical. Said rumors continue to draw parallels between his departure and what transpired surrounding the departure of Leslie Benzies, but often without going into any specifics.

For those wanting the quick answer there ultimately is no concrete proof he was pushed out of the company. Certainly, an argument and observation could be made this is part of the convergence of Rockstar Games that became evident with Red Dead Redemption 2’s feminist and Hollywood revisionist “the south is racist and bigoted” portrayal. Alternatively, it can be argued he experienced complete burnout, lost the passion, and was done with all the stress. That Take Two’s greedy mandates offered him little in the way of room to express himself, so the passion wasn’t coming back. Unless he breaks his silence or someone else does we’ll not know for sure what transpired, but what follows may shine some light onto his departure.

As rumors swirl the only available official information comes from Take Two’s SEC filing regarding Dan’s Departure. A statement that reads more as an investor relation publication than something you would file with SEC.

“After an extended break beginning in the spring of 2019, Dan Houser, Vice President, Creative at Rockstar Games, will be leaving the company. Dan Houser’s last day will be March 11, 2020. We are extremely grateful for his contributions. Rockstar Games has built some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful game worlds, a global community of passionate fans and an incredibly talented team, which remains focused on current and future projects.”

Shifting to the departure of Leslie Benzies, we began to see the first inkling not everything was fantastic at the publisher. The short of the story is Take-Two, Dan Houser, and Sam Houser decided royalties and bonuses totaling several million dollars were not worth paying to one of their top coders, designers, and producers in exchange for the billions he made for the company. People often ask why there was no Single-Player DLC for Grand Theft Auto 5 and the truth of that matter lies in Leslie’s departure.

When they refused to pay him what was promised and then according to him kicked him to he curb, a good chunk of Rockstar’s top talent up and walked with Benzies to form Build a Rocket Boy Games. Since then, several other employees have jumped ship, but the exact extent of the defections from Rockstar is unknown.

Given Benzies had been with the company since 1995 and was close to the Houser brothers, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine betraying the confidence of a friend had a profound impact on Dan’s life. These men, after all, worked together for years, shared each other’s toil and understood the hardships each other faced better than anyone. Exactly how much a role Strauss Zelnick — who has a reputation as a venture capitalist — played in this decision is only in the realm of speculation.

What is known is their lawsuit was settled out of court in February 2019 for an undisclosed sum, probably in the tens of millions.

Talking in a phone interview adding some credence to this rumor or alternatively attempting damage control Zelnick had the following to say:

“I can definitively say that Sam will stay with Rockstar going forward. Sam and I are tied to the hip.

 

I think the new consoles are going to excite consumers. There may be a more rapid sell-in than we previously experienced that will be good for upcoming releases.”

Aside from the available quotes and logical parallel, anything else remains in the realm of speculation. Yes, a good argument can be made for the probable encroachment of more political activism with no contributions to any charities led to Zelnick wanting Dan Houser gone from the company. As the lead writer, he would be the one that stood in the way of any further agenda pushing or at the very least been able to veto it.

Certainly, it is probable given Zelnick’s comments on being poised to capitalize on trends in the video game industry when the only trends they’re on are the soon to be illegal monetization models and progressive politics peddling that saw a slew of big-budget failures at the box office.

That is largely speculation and supposition though. Unless further leaks occur divulging details of the departure we will ultimately be left to speculating as to the extent of why he departed from the company he founded until his inevitable biography or memoirs.