Dan Houser
Dan Houser | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1974 (age 49–50) London, England |
| Nationality | British[1] |
| Alma mater | St Paul's School, London University of Oxford |
| Occupation(s) | Video game producer, writer and voice actor |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Organization | Rockstar Games (Vice President of Creativity) |
| Known for | Grand Theft Auto |
| Family | Walter Houser (father) Geraldine Moffat (mother) Sam Houser (brother) |
Dan Houser (born 1974) is an English[1] video game producer as well the co-founder (along with his brother Sam) and vice president of creativity for Rockstar Games.[3] As well as producing video games, Houser is the head writer for Rockstar Games,[4] being the lead for Bully, Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3. He has also written, or co-written, almost all of the titles in the Grand Theft Auto series.[4][5]
Biography
Houser was born in London,[6] the Son of British lawyer Walter Houser and actress Geraldine Moffat.[7][8] Houser was educated at St Paul's School in London and Oxford University.[9] Despite wanting to be musicians, both Houser and his brother Sam had a fascination with storytelling from a young age. Growing up near a video library in London, they watched many American crime and cult films and Spaghetti Westerns. Houser has stated he is a fan of Walter Hill's film The Warriors,[4] Rockstar Games went on to release a video game version of The Warriors in 2005.[4] In 1995, Houser got a part-time job at BMG Interactive testing CD-ROMs, although he wasn't a full-time employee until 1996.[7][10] Dan and Sam later became interested in a video game called Race'n'Chase which was being developed by DMA Design after getting a preview of the game. The Housers signed Race'n'Chase to BMG Interactive as the publisher and changed the name of the game to Grand Theft Auto.[11] In 1998, Houser left London and moved to New York with his brother, where the Houser brothers founded Rockstar Games.[7]
Houser has been credited as a producer for five Grand Theft Auto games, and also works as a writer and voice artist for the series.[citation needed] Despite the high profile of the Grand Theft Auto series, Houser and his brother have shied away from the celebrity spotlight, preferring to focus on the Rockstar Games brand rather than giving any one person the credit for the games' success.[12] In 2009, both Dan and Sam Houser appeared in Time Magazine's most 100 influential people of 2009 list.[13]
Video game credits
Producer
- Grand Theft Auto: London, 1969 (1999)
- Grand Theft Auto III (2001)
- Smuggler's Run: Warzones (2002) (Executive producer)
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006) (Executive producer)
- Red Dead Redemption (2010) (Executive producer)[4]
- L.A. Noire (2011) (Executive producer)[4]
- Max Payne 3 (2012) (Executive producer)[4]
Writer
- Grand Theft Auto: London, 1969 (1999)
- Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999)
- Grand Theft Auto III (2001)
- Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory (2001)
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005)
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006)
- Bully (2006)
- Bully: Scholarship Edition (2008)
- Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
- Midnight Club: Los Angeles (2008) (Dialogue)
- Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned (2009)
- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (2009)
- Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony (2009)
- Red Dead Redemption (2010)
- Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare (2010)
- Max Payne 3 (2012)
- Grand Theft Auto V (2013)[4]
Voice actor
- X-Squad (2000)
- Grand Theft Auto III (2001) - Pedestrian
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) - Radio Caller, Commercial Voice
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) - Commercial Voice
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005) - Commercial Voice
References
- ^ a b "The Max Payne Comics Will Explain Why Rockstar's Hard-Boiled Cop Is So Messed-Up". Kotaku.com. 3 May 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ^ Dutton, Fred (21 March 2012). "Rockstar boss buys Truman Capote's New York mansion • News •". Eurogamer.net. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ^ Stahie, Silviu. "Rockstar's Position on Critics". Softpedia.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Suellentrop, Chris (9 November 2012). "Americana at Its Most Felonious". The New York Times. Cite error: The named reference "NYT" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Grand Theft Auto V: meet Dan Houser, architect of a gaming phenomenon". The Guardian. 6 September 2013.
- ^ "Sam and Dan Houser | MediaGuardian 100 2010 | Media". London: The Guardian. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ^ a b c "Meet The Brains Behind Grand Theft Auto". Stuff.co. 27 December 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
- ^ "Behind Grand Theft Auto V: The 'Rockstar' creators of gaming's cult hit". Yahoo! News. 14 November 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
- ^ "Grand Theft Auto: The reckoning | Mail Online". London: Dailymail.co.uk. 24 August 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2012.
- ^ "Rockstar's Dan Houser: Big in Japan?". 1up.com. 26 October 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ^ "The History of Grand Theft Auto". IGN. 5 September 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
- ^ Ryan P. (18 May 2012). "Gaming Gods: Dan and Sam Houser". The Gamer's Hub. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ Matt Selman (30 April 2009). "Sam and Dan Houser - The 2009 TIME 100". Time Magazine. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
External links
- Dan Houser at IMDb