GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 devs join ex-Rockstar co-founder's new studio

Lazlow Jones, who wrote, produced, and voiced most of the GTA games as well as Red Dead Redemption 2, has reportedly joined Dan Houser's new studio, Absurd Ventures. Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) of Axios posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Lazlow Jones has joined Absurd Ventures as an executive producer.

Michael Unsworth, another dev who worked as a senior writer on GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, has also joined the new company as head of story and creative management. This article delves into deeper details.

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Former GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 devs join ex-Rockstar co-creator at new studio

Dan Houser, one of Rockstar Games' founders and the driving force behind the majority of the Grand Theft Auto games, left the company in March 2020. He then founded a new company, Absurd Ventures, which focuses on games, film, television, podcasts, graphic novels, and other media.

Dan Houser has been the lead writer for Bully, Red Dead Redemption, and Max Payne 3, aside from writing for almost every Grand Theft Auto game since 1999. Lazlow Jones has also been a writer for nearly every GTA game, aside from co-writing every in-game radio station since Grand Theft Auto 3 in 2001, alongside Dan Houser.

He is also popular for portraying himself in many of these games, where he can be heard as a radio personality. Jones is most prominently remembered for hosting the V-Rock radio station in Vice City, returning to the same station in its prequel, Vice City Stories, with Couzin Ed. He then followed up as the host of Integrity 2.0 in Grand Theft Auto 4 and its DLCs.

Lazlow Jones appeared as an in-game character for the first time in Grand Theft Auto 5 and was featured in some of the missions. In 2018, He was also introduced to Grand Theft Auto Online along with its After Hours update. Since then, players have been able to spot his character in their Nightclub, where he can be found in a cheerful mood or in total disarray.

In other news, Rockstar recently announced that GTA 6, the next major installment in the franchise, will be getting its first trailer in early December.