Dan Houser, co-founder of Rockstar Games and writer on all of the previous Grand Theft Auto titles, has stated his belief that live-service storytelling can be “a grind”.

Ad

It’s worth noting up front that Houser no longer works at Rockstar and has not been involved in the development of GTA 6. But with his list of writing credits including GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, both of which included online components, it’s safe to say that he knows his onions in this department.

Houser was speaking today (12th March) at the London Book Fair, to promote his debut novel, A Better Paradise Volume One: An Aftermath, which is based on an award-winning audio fiction series of the same name.

In conversation with Elle Osili-Wood, BBC Radio 4’s Sound of Gaming host, Houser spoke on the topic 'Storytelling and World Building from Video Games to Audio Fiction to Novels’.

In the Q&A section at the end, Houser was asked, "How do you see storytelling in games changing now that we have live-service games that can run for years and continually update with new seasons?"

Houser replied: “Getting that good is kind of the Holy Grail, I think, right now for games. I think some games do a better job than the games I worked on, at being ongoing narratives in the live service experience. And I think they could probably make amazing series about all those games.

“I know people that work on them. It's a grind. Making good, interesting stories. It's like working on a soap opera. They start, and the first few years are amazing on EastEnders or something, and then it becomes more and more hyperbolic and ridiculous."

Houser continued: “I think they probably suffer a little bit from that. It becomes like a grind. But trying to make worlds that are rich and that people want to stay in, that's challenging for anyone in episodic fiction in any form.”

Houser makes some great points there, and it really is impressive when you consider how long some of the biggest live-service games have run for. Some are lighter on stories than others, but it’s an achievement either way.

As for GTA, the future of the franchise should come into focus later this year. The GTA 6 release date is yet be confirmed, and we don’t know for sure yet what kind of online component it will have. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more, of course.

For more information on A Better Paradise, head over to the official website of Houser’s company Absurd Ventures. To learn more about London Book Fair, check out the schedule.

Additional reporting by Helen Daly

Read more:

Ad

Check out more of our Gaming coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.

Authors

Rob Leane Gaming Editor
Rob LeaneGaming Editor

Rob Leane is the Gaming Editor at Radio Times, overseeing our coverage of the biggest games on PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, mobile and VR. Rob works across our website, social media accounts and video channels, as well as producing our weekly gaming newsletter. He has previously worked at Den of Geek, Stealth Optional and Dennis Publishing.

Ad
Ad
Ad