Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser is reportedly working on a new open-world, sci-fi adventure game that is part of its A Better Paradise universe.
Houser is also a former writer and producer for the Grand Theft Auto franchise before founding his new studio, Absurd Ventures.
He announced his new studio last year and revealed that his new company would be "building narrative worlds, creating characters, and writing stories for a diverse variety of genres."
Rockstar Co-Founder Working on New Game
(Photo : Absurd Ventures / Screenshot taken from official website)
He also said that these would be made without regard to medium and will be produced for live-action and animation. These would include video games and other interactive content, such as books, graphic novels, and scripted podcasts.
The new studio was seemingly founded way back in 2021 and Houser is serving as the company's co-founder and director. Several outlets noticed earlier this week that recent job openings for Absurd Ventures were looking for developers.
These were focused on "an open world action-adventure game" that it currently had in development. One particular listing also specified "best-in-class combat" as well as "third-person action across multiple game modes," according to IGN.
They also requested developers who are familiar with a mix of both melee and shooting action mechanics, "non-combat forms of action gameplay (driving, mounts, climbing, traversal, platforming, etc)," Unreal Engine 4 or 5, and working with co-development partners.
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Absurd Ventures then separately announced a release date for its audio fiction series set in its new sci-fi universe. The series is scheduled to launch on June 10, 2024, and will span 12 episodes.
However, buried in the release is the news that the new studio is also making video games in the same expanded universe.
It was said that on top of Absurd Ventures launching Volume One of the A Better Paradise audio series, they are in various stages of development on multiple projects set in that particular universe.
A Sci-Fi Open-World, Action-Adventure Title
The first volume of the A Better Paradise audio series is said to be set in the near future and tells the story of the ill-fated development of an ambitious but addictive digital game-world project, said GamesRadar.
As the advanced software that inventor and psychologist Dr. Mark Tyburn and his team developed started to deliver unexpected and disturbing results, the team fell apart. All of this happened under strange circumstances and resulted in the project being abandoned.
With Absurd Ventures' new job listings, the lead gameplay designer role states that the chosen candidate will "become the primary vision holder and hands-on contributor for character, controls, and camera design" in the new open-world action-adventure game.
The person who will be selected for this particular role will also lead a team of multi-disciplinary specialists to work on the project. Absurd Ventures working on an open-world action-adventure game is not surprising given Houser's experience.
The other job roles included in the job listings include art director, lead designer, senior art director, senior producer, senior technical director, and technical director. There are also other positions that are available in the IT and corporate side of the project, according to RockstarIntel.
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