The first game by a new studio led by Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser and other former top talent has had more details revealed from a press release shared by IGN.
It was just last week that a job listing revealed Absurd Ventures are working on an open world action-adventure game. This new report delves into the game’s setting, franchise and more.
In case you aren’t familiar with Absurd Ventures, it is a transmedia newly formed by Dan Houser. Most known for co-founding Rockstar Games and writing most GTA games, both Red Dead titles, Bully, and more, Mr Houser has been working on Absurd Ventures in the past few years.
We covered the reveal of the Santa Monica-based media company back in June last year. Based on documents filed in the UK, Mr Houser incorporated the company in June 2021.
This all came after his shock exit from Rockstar Games in 2020 and sitting on the board of an NFT game developer. Several key Rockstar staff also left for Dan’s new venture including the head of writing and a lead producer. Lazlow Jones of GTA radio fame joined Absurd in 2021. There is a lot of anticipation over what Houser and co are cooking up next.
The new game’s universe
Last week, Absurd Ventures revealed plenty of information about their first product, a podcast called A BETTER PARADISE. This new IP is launching with a 12-part fictional audio drama on June 10th. It will star The Walking Dead actor Andrew Lincoln as the lead. We also learned from job listings they want developers to make an open world action-adventure game, likely running on Unreal Engine 5.
It appears this game will be set within the A BETTER PARADISE universe according to a press release and inside sources IGN have spoken to. Their article states that within the press release sent to outlets “Houser, Lazlow, and the Absurd Ventures team are in various stages of development on multiple projects set in the A Better Paradise universe, including additional audio fiction seasons, as well as television and video game titles.”
Source confirms game details
A person close to Absurd’s plans did indeed confirm the open world action-adventure game is taking place inside of the A BETTER PARADISE universe. Absurd’s marketing for the upcoming podcast states this IP is set in the near future. It goes onto say “the story of the ill-fated development of an ambitious but addictive digital game-world project led by inventor and psychologist, Dr. Mark Tyburn (played by Andrew Lincoln). You can learn more about A BETTER PARADISE here. You’ll only have to wait a few more weeks to experience the start of this new franchise
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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1 Comment
Sounds good. I bet GTA 6 is just a rehashing for Dan, and hopefully this new venture makes waves in this genre. I’ve got low hopes for 6, but high hopes for A better Paradise. 👍🏻