Why GTA is so Successful According to Dan Houser

Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser has explained the secret to Grand Theft Auto’s success.

Houser left Rockstar back in 2020, but has been making a lot of public appearances lately following the publishing of his new book, A Better Paradise Volume One: An Aftermath.

With the recent delay of GTA 6 earlier this month as well, he’s had a lot to say about the series and its success, including what the golden secret might be.

“We started small and the games got more complicated each time,” Houser explained on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch on Sunday (23 November).

“But it was also necessity being the mother of invention, we had to get something finished to stay in business and we figured out that this seems a sensible way to do it.

“We had very clever people on the team figuring out how to glue it all together, and we learned era by era by era. We used stuff we’d learned on the previous one and the mistakes we’d made to make it better the next time.”

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Idea of Living in a Fake Place'

As for how the GTA games have been so successful, Houser confirms it’s partly down to the fact these games allow players to live out a simulated version of themselves.

“It puts you in this exaggerated, cinematic world,” Houser adds.

“And mostly, I would argue, because it was this sense of freedom. It was the game where before that games were either a shooting game, or a driving game, or a simulation game, and it [GTA] was all three smashed together in a way that felt very free.

“Also, when people talk about ‘the metaverse’ or this digital world, those were the first games that showed you this idea of living in this fake place.”

In recent weeks, Houser has been speaking about the early development of the GTA series quite extensively in interviews and on podcasts.

Appearing on the Lex Fridman Podcast in October, he spoke about how GTA’s radio stations could largely be attributed to one of his co-developers, Lazlow Jones.

“We would have these good writing sessions where we realised we got on well with each other and that we had a similar sense of humour and we could write the stuff and then he would do all of the real work producing it,” Houser explained.

“So it was perfect for me because I got to outsource most of the real work and he's a brilliant radio producer.”

GTA 6 is the next game coming from Rockstar Games, and is due to release on 19th November, 2026 for Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5.