Rockstar Games co-founder and former lead writer of almost every major Grand Theft Auto game, with the exception of the upcoming GTA 6 – believes that the games industry faces the “danger” of being too focused on printing money instead of just making interesting games.
GTA and Red Dead Redemption 2 head writer Dan Houser appeared on Channel 4's Sunday Brunch to talk about his past and future projects, where he was also asked what direction the gaming industry as a whole will go next. According to a Rockstar veteran, the games could go one of two ways.
“He can go – you know, with everything else – he can either go somewhere that's really interesting or somewhere that's overly focused on making money,” Houser said. “I think in any commercial art form there's always a danger that they'll get distracted by money, but there's still a lot of creative space to create this kind of live narrative experience.”
However, Houser was a little less fanatical in predicting the winner, so he sort of split the trophy in half. “I think they'll both win,” he said. “I think there will be two ways. We've already seen this in the gaming industry, where both types win.”
It's an issue that may have always plagued the industry, but in recent years it's been very difficult not to see the impact of corporate greed on gaming as private equity and larger tech companies get involved. You don't need to look any further than the endless number of “live services” floating around out there that are more or less glorified storefronts/real money gambling rather than artful or directed experiences.
However, Houser is right in the sense that developers of all sizes are still making great games and achieving great success at the same time. Self-published indie games such as Hades 2, Hollow Knight Silk Songand Peak has at least given me some hope this year.
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