The 'Florida Joker,' who believes Rockstar stole their likeness for GTA 6, has now made themselves resemble the character in question even more.
28.11.2023 - 20:07 / pcgamer.com / Stephen Totilo / Dan Houser / Michael Unsworth
Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser left the studio in 2020 and founded a new operation in 2021 called Absurd Ventures. It turns out that he's brought some heavyweight former Rockstars with him to the new gig: As noted by French site Begeek (via Stephen Totilo), Rockstar's former vice-president of writing Michael Unsworth joined in October as Absurd Ventures' head of story and creative management, and former writer and producer Lazlow Jones is onboard as executive producer.
Unsworth brings an enviable list of credits to the table from his time at Rockstar: He joined the studio in 2007 as senior creative writer and contributed to games including Midnight Club: Los Angeles, LA Noire, Max Payne 3, Grand Theft Auto 4 and 5, and Red Dead Redemption and RDR2. He was promoted to vice-president of writing in 2021, but departed Rockstar earlier this year, a move that left some fans concerned about what it might bode for the soon-to-be-revealed Grand Theft Auto 6.
Jones joined Rockstar even earlier, in 2001, and served in various writing, directing, and production roles on a similarly impressive range of games, although he's likely best known to GTA players for his turns as a radio host in Grand Theft Auto 3, 4, and 5. He left Rockstar in 2020, shortly after Houser's departure, and according to his LinkedIn profile he actually joined Absurd Venture just a year later, in June 2021, although it seems to have gone largely unnoticed until now.
Unsworth and Jones are the best-known of the bunch, but they're not the only big names to join Houser at his new thing: As noted by Rockstar Intel, former Rockstar vice president of new media Adam Tedman joined Absurd Ventures in 2022 as head of marketing, while Pandemic Studios co-founder Greg Borrud is on board as head of games.
It's been a few years since Absurd Ventures was first revealed, but I imagine we'll be paying more attention to what it's getting up to in the relatively near future. After an extended period of silence, the studio began teasing its debut project in June with the launch of a website carrying the tagline «Storytelling. Philanthropy. Ultraviolence,» along with a really bizarre teaser trailer.
It's mostly cryptic nonsense, and the studio's promised commitment to «building narrative worlds, creating characters, and writing stories for a diverse variety of genres, without regard to medium» doesn't say much either. But given the principals involved, I'm expecting big and interesting things.
The 'Florida Joker,' who believes Rockstar stole their likeness for GTA 6, has now made themselves resemble the character in question even more.
Studio Ghibli’s latest movie The Boy and the Heron has now had its English-language release in the US. Among the star-studded voice cast are Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, and Robert Pattinson, with the latter apparently smashing his recordings out of the park.
Former Ghostwire Tokyo creative director Ikumi Nakamura has revealed Kemuri, the first game from her new studio Unseen.
You almost have to feel bad for Fortnite because they try their best to keep bringing in content and skins that will get players excited, and then, somehow, that content always gets leaked before they can unveil it for themselves. Why did we say we “almost” have to feel bad for them? Simple, they still make a crap ton of money and are likely one of the most profitable games of all time! So yeah, they can afford to have a few things leaked; it won’t hurt them that much. Anyway, another leak has come forth on Twitter, and they have shown fans some of the new skins you’ll be able to get within the game.
Larian recently revealed some more of the stats it's been sneakily gathering while we're playing Baldur's Gate 3. Among them, the revelation that 33% of Halsin romancers requested he boink them in bear form. Honestly, you people.
Rockstar dropped the trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI ahead of schedule to counter a leak and confirmed the title will launch on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S in 2025.
Games giant Rockstar has shown the world its first official glimpse at Grand Theft Auto 6.
It's not fun for developers when trailers leak early for their games, but I imagine even less so when your studio has something new to share as rarely as Rockstar does. The studio planned to premiere the first GTA 6 trailer tomorrow morning. People were so excited about it that thousands were sitting around in the livestream chat 24 hours ahead of time to get hyped about the game. Then, earlier today, the full trailer leaked onto X with an ugly crypto watermark glazed over the center of the screen.
As exciting as it can be to see new games in popular and established franchises getting announced, nothing quite beats the unveiling of an exciting and completely new IP. Interestingly enough, we might have plenty of that to look forward to in the very near future.
It’s the time of the year again for scares! Wait… October was a while ago now, so why is this news Halloween-themed? Well, Reverse 1999 1.2 is going down the horror route, and I’m all here for it.
Are you looking to showcase your brand in front of the brightest minds of the gaming industry? Consider getting a custom GamesBeat sponsorship. Learn more.
Earlier this year, Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser set up a new transmedia company dubbed Absurd Ventures. Months after that announcement, the studio has revealed it's locked in two projects (and "universes") to release next year.