Red Dead Redemption fans rejoice as creator announces new open-world game

I know what’s going through your mind. Perhaps something akin to ‘this sounds too good to be true’?

Well, you needn’t think that way because the renowned Dan Houser has in fact confirmed plans for a new open-world video game.

If you’re a fan of the Red Dead Redemption or Grand Theft Auto franchises, Dan Houser is likely a familiar name to you.

Houser is one of the co-founders of Rockstar Games, alongside his brother Sam.

As such, he’s served as an executive producer on a ton of the studio’s projects, whilst also notably writing Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto V, and Bully, to name just a few titles.

Houser actually departed Rockstar in 2020, setting up Absurd Ventures in 2021.

Absurd Ventures isn’t exactly a game studio; it’s described simply as an entertainment company, producing IPs and projects across different media forms.

Last year, the first of those surfaced in the form of A Better Paradise, an audio fiction series starring Andrew Lincoln which debuted at #1 on Apple’s fiction chart.

Lincoln portrayed inventor and psychologist Dr. Mark Tyburn who set out to create an ambitious digital game world using AI-driven super-intelligence but the technology yielded disturbing results.

As such, the project was laid to rest “dormant and undiscovered … until now”.

I’ll admit I haven’t listened to the series but it sounds fantastic; very Westworld-esque, with the theme park idea replaced with a video game world.

All of this is to say that it’s just been revealed that A Better Paradise is officially being adapted into a series of novels, with a press release confirming that a video game version is in the works beyond that.

A Better Paradise Volume One: An Aftermath is the name of the first novel.

This particular version will “go deeper into the origins and secrets of the mysterious video game’s development as told by the tortured souls who are now on the run from the AI entity they played a part in creating and unleashing”, as per a press release.

Published by Absurd Ventures Press in print, eBook, and audiobook, A Better Paradise Volume One: An Aftermath will launch on 14 October this year.

In the press release, it was then confirmed that "an open world video game set in the A Better Paradise universe is also in development”.

Interesting. It sounds as if the video game is more of a spin-off than another iteration of the main story.

Still, I’m imagining plenty of Rockstar fans will now be downloading the A Better Paradise audio series to get a feel for this new world that’s set to fill the Red Dead Redemption shaped hole in our lives.

Of course, there’s no timeline on when this game might surface.

Given Houser’s extensive background in video games, I’ll be shocked if this hasn’t been in the works since Absurd Ventures was established in 2021 but that’s not to say it’s even in full development yet.

I think we can all agree that this could be something special; it can’t be any worse than MindsEye, at the very least - the first game from fellow Rockstar alumni Leslie Benzies.

It’s early days for the untitled video game but we’ll be keeping a close eye on its progression.