Absurd Ventures, the new multimedia company from Rockstar Games‘ co-founder Dan Houser have just earned a major new gaming investor. Plus, another new IP from Absurd has also been teased.
In a press release on Tuesday, South Korean game publisher Smilegate said they have “made a strategic investment and become a partner in Absurd Ventures”. In case you don’t know who Smilegate are, they are best known for their Crossfire and Lost Ark franchises which have been popular in Asia.
This partnership will enable Smilegate to partner on the new IP that Absurd creates. So far, Absurd have created A Better Paradise and American Caper with the former having an audio drama released earlier this year. The press release also mentions a third new IP from Absurd will be “revealed soon”.
“Houser’s team at Absurd Ventures includes key leaders and talent from his time at Rockstar Games as well as executive game development veterans who worked on Call of Duty, Pokemon Go! and many other AAA franchises.”
Why They’ve Partnered
Smilegate state the partnership will be mutually beneficial in a few ways. Absurd will gain great knowledge of the Asian market from Smilegate. On the flip side, Smilegate will gain Western market, AAA, narrative experience.
“The two companies will pool each other’s strengths in areas such as online/live service, given Smilegate’s success with CROSSFIRE and Houser and his team’s experience overseeing the wildly successful Grand Theft Auto Online.”
Dan Houser Comments
The legendary Rockstar Games co-founder offered a rare comment as part of this press release. He said “This collaboration with Smilegate was borne from a mutual respect and a philosophical alignment with founder Kwon, and the great passion he and his team bring to making AAA games. We both want to build interesting worlds and new player experiences.”
We already know Absurd are currently making two new projects: an open world action-adventure game based their A Better Paradise franchise and a “story-driven adventure title based on an unannounced new IP”. That could be the third IP mentioned earlier. It was just in September that a second game studio was set up by the firm.
Are you interested in Dan Houser’s new company? Let us know in the comments. Stay tuned to RockstarINTEL for news updates on Absurd Ventures and everything Rockstar Games.
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