Rockstar Co-Founder Shares Thoughts On GTA 6, Abandoned GTA 5 DLC, A Medieval Game, Agent, And More

md5

d960068b28a12f721a42d20f3327be27

link

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/former-rockstar-dev-shares-thoughts-on-gta-6-abandoned-gta-5-dlc-a-medieval-game-agent-and-more/1100-6535873/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f

image

https://www.gamespot.com/a/uploads/screen_medium/1837/18375603/4595079-reddeadredemption2.jpg

description

Rockstar Games' former VP of creative, Dan Houser, left the company in 2020, but he's still a wellspring of knowledge about Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, both of which he was a lead writer on. Houser recently shared his insights into both game series as well as a few of Rockstar's unrealized projects.

During a nearly three-hour interview with Lex Fridman on YouTube, Houser touched on GTA 5's uncompleted DLC that would have featured Trevor as a secret agent.

"It never quite came together, and it was never finished," recalled Houser. "It was about half done when it got abandoned. But I think if that had come out, [we] probably wouldn't have gotten to make Red Dead 2. So, there's always compromises ... I like making the stories. For me, I love the model of GTA 4 when you had the extra stories coming afterwards or Red Dead 1 when you had the zombie pack coming afterwards. I like just doing these extra things. So, I would've personally liked to have done more of that in that company."

Houser related that a James Bond-style game called Agent was also in development, but the team couldn't get the idea to work in an open-world environment without sacrificing the rising tension of a spy thriller. He added that the team hadn't even set a time period or a story before the project was shut down. Similarly, a Rockstar game about Knights in medieval times didn't make it out of development.

"[We were] sort of trying to do a version of a mythological game that could have been fun," said Houser. "And you know, [I] still love that idea, but never went very far with it. Knights would be going really far back in history ... It never got to writing any of it. Just did some backstory and played around with a few ideas. But it was always something I thought I would never do, and then kind of fell in love with it a little bit."

Fridman also asked about two of the enduring mysteries from the Red Dead Redemption games: The man looking for his friend Gavin, and the shadowy individual who knew John's actions. Houser explained that the Gavin story wasn't supposed to have a resolution before sharing this theory on the shadow man.

"He was meant to be a kind of manifestation of your shadow, your karma, the devil, somewhere," said Houser. "And then we built out his backstory over time ... And so in Red Dead 2, you could interact with him again and. .. or not really interact with him. But he was there and he was meant to be something I suppose any creative is scared of, an artist who's kind of sold his soul to the devil. And that slowly revealed itself. He knows what you're up to. What's never really made clear is, does he know this about everybody? Like, is he following you, or is he able, because of the pact he's made with evil forces, able to do this for everybody? I don't think we necessarily ever clarify that. He's certainly able to do it for you."

Although Houser wasn't involved in the creation of GTA 6, he has no doubt it will break records upon its debut.

"I would assume it will because it's so anticipated, and anticipation is the best driver of early sales, as we saw with GTA 4 versus Red Dead Redemption 1," added Houser. "You know, GTA 4 far more anticipated, sold much better early on. So I would assume [GTA 6] will sell really well. That was never my definition of success, but you certainly wanted to make money. "

Houser recently released a novel, A Better Paradise Volume One: An Aftermath, which is now available on Amazon.

content_html

Rockstar Games' former VP of creative, Dan Houser, left the company in 2020, but he's still a wellspring of knowledge about Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, both of which he was a lead writer on. Houser recently shared his insights into both game series as well as a few of Rockstar's unrealized projects.

During a nearly three-hour interview with Lex Fridman on YouTube, Houser touched on GTA 5's uncompleted DLC that would have featured Trevor as a secret agent.

"It never quite came together, and it was never finished," recalled Houser. "It was about half done when it got abandoned. But I think if that had come out, [we] probably wouldn't have gotten to make Red Dead 2. So, there's always compromises ... I like making the stories. For me, I love the model of GTA 4 when you had the extra stories coming afterwards or Red Dead 1 when you had the zombie pack coming afterwards. I like just doing these extra things. So, I would've personally liked to have done more of that in that company."

Houser related that a James Bond-style game called Agent was also in development, but the team couldn't get the idea to work in an open-world environment without sacrificing the rising tension of a spy thriller. He added that the team hadn't even set a time period or a story before the project was shut down. Similarly, a Rockstar game about Knights in medieval times didn't make it out of development.

"[We were] sort of trying to do a version of a mythological game that could have been fun," said Houser. "And you know, [I] still love that idea, but never went very far with it. Knights would be going really far back in history ... It never got to writing any of it. Just did some backstory and played around with a few ideas. But it was always something I thought I would never do, and then kind of fell in love with it a little bit."

Fridman also asked about two of the enduring mysteries from the Red Dead Redemption games: The man looking for his friend Gavin, and the shadowy individual who knew John's actions. Houser explained that the Gavin story wasn't supposed to have a resolution before sharing this theory on the shadow man.

"He was meant to be a kind of manifestation of your shadow, your karma, the devil, somewhere," said Houser. "And then we built out his backstory over time ... And so in Red Dead 2, you could interact with him again and. .. or not really interact with him. But he was there and he was meant to be something I suppose any creative is scared of, an artist who's kind of sold his soul to the devil. And that slowly revealed itself. He knows what you're up to. What's never really made clear is, does he know this about everybody? Like, is he following you, or is he able, because of the pact he's made with evil forces, able to do this for everybody? I don't think we necessarily ever clarify that. He's certainly able to do it for you."

Although Houser wasn't involved in the creation of GTA 6, he has no doubt it will break records upon its debut.

"I would assume it will because it's so anticipated, and anticipation is the best driver of early sales, as we saw with GTA 4 versus Red Dead Redemption 1," added Houser. "You know, GTA 4 far more anticipated, sold much better early on. So I would assume [GTA 6] will sell really well. That was never my definition of success, but you certainly wanted to make money. "

Houser recently released a novel, A Better Paradise Volume One: An Aftermath, which is now available on Amazon.

content_text

Rockstar Games' former VP of creative, Dan Houser, left the company in 2020, but he's still a wellspring of knowledge about Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, both of which he was a lead writer on. Houser recently shared his insights into both game series as well as a few of Rockstar's unrealized projects.During a nearly three-hour interview with Lex Fridman on YouTube, Houser touched on GTA 5's uncompleted DLC that would have featured Trevor as a secret agent."It never quite came together, and it was never finished," recalled Houser. "It was about half done when it got abandoned. But I think if that had come out, [we] probably wouldn't have gotten to make Red Dead 2. So, there's always compromises ... I like making the stories. For me, I love the model of GTA 4 when you had the extra stories coming afterwards or Red Dead 1 when you had the zombie pack coming afterwards. I like just doing these extra things. So, I would've personally liked to have done more of that in that company."Houser related that a James Bond-style game called Agent was also in development, but the team couldn't get the idea to work in an open-world environment without sacrificing the rising tension of a spy thriller. He added that the team hadn't even set a time period or a story before the project was shut down. Similarly, a Rockstar game about Knights in medieval times didn't make it out of development."[We were] sort of trying to do a version of a mythological game that could have been fun," said Houser. "And you know, [I] still love that idea, but never went very far with it. Knights would be going really far back in history ... It never got to writing any of it. Just did some backstory and played around with a few ideas. But it was always something I thought I would never do, and then kind of fell in love with it a little bit."Fridman also asked about two of the enduring mysteries from the Red Dead Redemption games: The man looking for his friend Gavin, and the shadowy individual who knew John's actions. Houser explained that the Gavin story wasn't supposed to have a resolution before sharing this theory on the shadow man."He was meant to be a kind of manifestation of your shadow, your karma, the devil, somewhere," said Houser. "And then we built out his backstory over time ... And so in Red Dead 2, you could interact with him again and. .. or not really interact with him. But he was there and he was meant to be something I suppose any creative is scared of, an artist who's kind of sold his soul to the devil. And that slowly revealed itself. He knows what you're up to. What's never really made clear is, does he know this about everybody? Like, is he following you, or is he able, because of the pact he's made with evil forces, able to do this for everybody? I don't think we necessarily ever clarify that. He's certainly able to do it for you."Although Houser wasn't involved in the creation of GTA 6, he has no doubt it will break records upon its debut."I would assume it will because it's so anticipated, and anticipation is the best driver of early sales, as we saw with GTA 4 versus Red Dead Redemption 1," added Houser. "You know, GTA 4 far more anticipated, sold much better early on. So I would assume [GTA 6] will sell really well. That was never my definition of success, but you certainly wanted to make money. "Houser recently released a novel, A Better Paradise Volume One: An Aftermath, which is now available on Amazon.

pub_date

3 November 2025, 1:09 pm

guid

1100-6535873

creator

Blair Marnell

processed

TRUE

id: 85908
uid: zRjbu
insdate: 2025-11-03 14:20:03
title: Rockstar Co-Founder Shares Thoughts On GTA 6, Abandoned GTA 5 DLC, A Medieval Game, Agent, And More
additional:
category: Game Spot
md5: d960068b28a12f721a42d20f3327be27
link: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/former-rockstar-dev-shares-thoughts-on-gta-6-abandoned-gta-5-dlc-a-medieval-game-agent-and-more/1100-6535873/?ftag=CAD-01-10abi2f
image: https://www.gamespot.com/a/uploads/screen_medium/1837/18375603/4595079-reddeadredemption2.jpg
image_imgur:
description:

Rockstar Games' former VP of creative, Dan Houser, left the company in 2020, but he's still a wellspring of knowledge about Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, both of which he was a lead writer on. Houser recently shared his insights into both game series as well as a few of Rockstar's unrealized projects.

During a nearly three-hour interview with Lex Fridman on YouTube, Houser touched on GTA 5's uncompleted DLC that would have featured Trevor as a secret agent.

"It never quite came together, and it was never finished," recalled Houser. "It was about half done when it got abandoned. But I think if that had come out, [we] probably wouldn't have gotten to make Red Dead 2. So, there's always compromises ... I like making the stories. For me, I love the model of GTA 4 when you had the extra stories coming afterwards or Red Dead 1 when you had the zombie pack coming afterwards. I like just doing these extra things. So, I would've personally liked to have done more of that in that company."

Houser related that a James Bond-style game called Agent was also in development, but the team couldn't get the idea to work in an open-world environment without sacrificing the rising tension of a spy thriller. He added that the team hadn't even set a time period or a story before the project was shut down. Similarly, a Rockstar game about Knights in medieval times didn't make it out of development.

"[We were] sort of trying to do a version of a mythological game that could have been fun," said Houser. "And you know, [I] still love that idea, but never went very far with it. Knights would be going really far back in history ... It never got to writing any of it. Just did some backstory and played around with a few ideas. But it was always something I thought I would never do, and then kind of fell in love with it a little bit."

Fridman also asked about two of the enduring mysteries from the Red Dead Redemption games: The man looking for his friend Gavin, and the shadowy individual who knew John's actions. Houser explained that the Gavin story wasn't supposed to have a resolution before sharing this theory on the shadow man.

"He was meant to be a kind of manifestation of your shadow, your karma, the devil, somewhere," said Houser. "And then we built out his backstory over time ... And so in Red Dead 2, you could interact with him again and. .. or not really interact with him. But he was there and he was meant to be something I suppose any creative is scared of, an artist who's kind of sold his soul to the devil. And that slowly revealed itself. He knows what you're up to. What's never really made clear is, does he know this about everybody? Like, is he following you, or is he able, because of the pact he's made with evil forces, able to do this for everybody? I don't think we necessarily ever clarify that. He's certainly able to do it for you."

Although Houser wasn't involved in the creation of GTA 6, he has no doubt it will break records upon its debut.

"I would assume it will because it's so anticipated, and anticipation is the best driver of early sales, as we saw with GTA 4 versus Red Dead Redemption 1," added Houser. "You know, GTA 4 far more anticipated, sold much better early on. So I would assume [GTA 6] will sell really well. That was never my definition of success, but you certainly wanted to make money. "

Houser recently released a novel, A Better Paradise Volume One: An Aftermath, which is now available on Amazon.


content_html:

Rockstar Games' former VP of creative, Dan Houser, left the company in 2020, but he's still a wellspring of knowledge about Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, both of which he was a lead writer on. Houser recently shared his insights into both game series as well as a few of Rockstar's unrealized projects.

During a nearly three-hour interview with Lex Fridman on YouTube, Houser touched on GTA 5's uncompleted DLC that would have featured Trevor as a secret agent.

"It never quite came together, and it was never finished," recalled Houser. "It was about half done when it got abandoned. But I think if that had come out, [we] probably wouldn't have gotten to make Red Dead 2. So, there's always compromises ... I like making the stories. For me, I love the model of GTA 4 when you had the extra stories coming afterwards or Red Dead 1 when you had the zombie pack coming afterwards. I like just doing these extra things. So, I would've personally liked to have done more of that in that company."

Houser related that a James Bond-style game called Agent was also in development, but the team couldn't get the idea to work in an open-world environment without sacrificing the rising tension of a spy thriller. He added that the team hadn't even set a time period or a story before the project was shut down. Similarly, a Rockstar game about Knights in medieval times didn't make it out of development.

"[We were] sort of trying to do a version of a mythological game that could have been fun," said Houser. "And you know, [I] still love that idea, but never went very far with it. Knights would be going really far back in history ... It never got to writing any of it. Just did some backstory and played around with a few ideas. But it was always something I thought I would never do, and then kind of fell in love with it a little bit."

Fridman also asked about two of the enduring mysteries from the Red Dead Redemption games: The man looking for his friend Gavin, and the shadowy individual who knew John's actions. Houser explained that the Gavin story wasn't supposed to have a resolution before sharing this theory on the shadow man.

"He was meant to be a kind of manifestation of your shadow, your karma, the devil, somewhere," said Houser. "And then we built out his backstory over time ... And so in Red Dead 2, you could interact with him again and. .. or not really interact with him. But he was there and he was meant to be something I suppose any creative is scared of, an artist who's kind of sold his soul to the devil. And that slowly revealed itself. He knows what you're up to. What's never really made clear is, does he know this about everybody? Like, is he following you, or is he able, because of the pact he's made with evil forces, able to do this for everybody? I don't think we necessarily ever clarify that. He's certainly able to do it for you."

Although Houser wasn't involved in the creation of GTA 6, he has no doubt it will break records upon its debut.

"I would assume it will because it's so anticipated, and anticipation is the best driver of early sales, as we saw with GTA 4 versus Red Dead Redemption 1," added Houser. "You know, GTA 4 far more anticipated, sold much better early on. So I would assume [GTA 6] will sell really well. That was never my definition of success, but you certainly wanted to make money. "

Houser recently released a novel, A Better Paradise Volume One: An Aftermath, which is now available on Amazon.


content_text: Rockstar Games' former VP of creative, Dan Houser, left the company in 2020, but he's still a wellspring of knowledge about Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, both of which he was a lead writer on. Houser recently shared his insights into both game series as well as a few of Rockstar's unrealized projects.During a nearly three-hour interview with Lex Fridman on YouTube, Houser touched on GTA 5's uncompleted DLC that would have featured Trevor as a secret agent."It never quite came together, and it was never finished," recalled Houser. "It was about half done when it got abandoned. But I think if that had come out, [we] probably wouldn't have gotten to make Red Dead 2. So, there's always compromises ... I like making the stories. For me, I love the model of GTA 4 when you had the extra stories coming afterwards or Red Dead 1 when you had the zombie pack coming afterwards. I like just doing these extra things. So, I would've personally liked to have done more of that in that company."Houser related that a James Bond-style game called Agent was also in development, but the team couldn't get the idea to work in an open-world environment without sacrificing the rising tension of a spy thriller. He added that the team hadn't even set a time period or a story before the project was shut down. Similarly, a Rockstar game about Knights in medieval times didn't make it out of development."[We were] sort of trying to do a version of a mythological game that could have been fun," said Houser. "And you know, [I] still love that idea, but never went very far with it. Knights would be going really far back in history ... It never got to writing any of it. Just did some backstory and played around with a few ideas. But it was always something I thought I would never do, and then kind of fell in love with it a little bit."Fridman also asked about two of the enduring mysteries from the Red Dead Redemption games: The man looking for his friend Gavin, and the shadowy individual who knew John's actions. Houser explained that the Gavin story wasn't supposed to have a resolution before sharing this theory on the shadow man."He was meant to be a kind of manifestation of your shadow, your karma, the devil, somewhere," said Houser. "And then we built out his backstory over time ... And so in Red Dead 2, you could interact with him again and. .. or not really interact with him. But he was there and he was meant to be something I suppose any creative is scared of, an artist who's kind of sold his soul to the devil. And that slowly revealed itself. He knows what you're up to. What's never really made clear is, does he know this about everybody? Like, is he following you, or is he able, because of the pact he's made with evil forces, able to do this for everybody? I don't think we necessarily ever clarify that. He's certainly able to do it for you."Although Houser wasn't involved in the creation of GTA 6, he has no doubt it will break records upon its debut."I would assume it will because it's so anticipated, and anticipation is the best driver of early sales, as we saw with GTA 4 versus Red Dead Redemption 1," added Houser. "You know, GTA 4 far more anticipated, sold much better early on. So I would assume [GTA 6] will sell really well. That was never my definition of success, but you certainly wanted to make money. "Houser recently released a novel, A Better Paradise Volume One: An Aftermath, which is now available on Amazon.
pub_date: 3 November 2025, 1:09 pm
guid: 1100-6535873
creator: Blair Marnell
related_games:
processed: TRUE

No Items Found.

Add Comment
Type in a Nick Name here
 
Other Items in Game Spot
Pokemon TCG New Mega Lucario Ex Figure Collection Restocked At Amazon With Call Of Duty: Black Ops, Treyarch Fell Into The Rabbit Hole And Never Got Out Honkai: Star Rail 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Controller Bundle Gets Limited-Time Discount How To Get Into The Arc Raiders Hidden Bunker On Spaceport Arc Raiders - All Enemies And How To Kill Them Arc Raiders Power Out Quest Guide Arc Raiders Flickering Threat Quest Guide Halo Infinite's Last Update Arrives This Month As Devs Move To Other Halo Projects Fortnite OG Butterfly Event: How To Participate Arc Raiders Bees! Quest Guide Arc Raiders Espresso Quest Guide Arc Raiders Building A Library Quest Guide Arc Raiders A New Type Of Plant Quest Guide Arc Raiders Espresso Quest Guide Baldur's Gate 3 Publishing Director Pushes Back At Square Enix's AI QA Plans Arc Raiders Eyes On The Prize Quest Guide Baldur's Gate 3 Publishing Director Pushes Back At Square Enix's AI QA Plans Arc Raiders Bees! Quest Guide Half Of Lego's Animal Crossing Series Retires Soon, Save Big While You Can Intellivision Sprint Preorders Are Now Live at Amazon Fortnite Battle Royale Will Have 100 Players On A Big Map Again In Chapter 7 Call Of Duty Will Be Repackaged To Support Black Ops 7 Launch GTA 6 Fans Waiting For The Possible PC Edition Now Have To Wait Even Longer Mario Kart Hot Wheels Tracks Get Massive Early Black Friday Discounts You'll Level Up Faster In Black Ops 7 Before Season 1's Launch Switch 2 Price Increase Sounds Unlikely For Now Arc Raiders A Reveal In Ruins Quest Guide No One Can Compete With GTA, Says Saints Row Dev Switch 2 Price Increase Sounds Unlikely For Now Kirby Air Riders Global Playtest Download Now Available, Here's The Full Schedule Arc Raiders New Update Adds Deadly Weather And A Hidden Bunker Arc Raiders Doctor's Orders Quest Guide Nintendo Won't Shy Away From Continuing To "Try Anything" HP Victus Gaming Laptop Is Only $480 With Best Buy Doorbuster Deal Here's David Harbour's Surprising Reaction To Being Told Someone "Mains His Fortnite Skin" Rockstar Delays GTA 6 And The Internet Responds Exactly As You'd Expect WoW's New Premium Currency Is "Player Friendly" And More "Efficient," Blizzard Says RDR2 For Switch 2, PS5, And Xbox Series X|S - Everything We Know About Rumored Ports RDR2 For Switch 2, PS5, And Xbox Series X|S - Everything We Know About Rumored Ports Mass Effect Boss Understands You Are "Thirsty For News" About Next Game, But You Can't Have It Yet WoW's New Premium Currency Is "Player Friendly" And More "Efficient," Blizzard Says Mass Effect Boss Understands You Are "Thirsty For News" About Next Game, But You Can't Have It Yet Texas Sues Roblox Over Child "Exploitation And Grooming" Concerns Pokemon's Two-Game Tradition Started As A Way To One-Up Mario Son Of A Diddly, Ned Flanders Has Eliminated 33,000 Unneighborly Fortnite Players Nintendo Wants To Be "Even More Actively Involved" In Moviemaking Red Dead Redemption 2 Passes Mario Kart 8 On All-Time Game Sales List GTA 6 Publisher Reacts To EA's $55 Billion Sale BioShock 4 Isn't Dead And Is Still Coming, Take-Two Promises BioShock 4 Isn't Dead And Is Still Coming, Take-Two Promises
Other Categories in Game News