Mr Houser co-founded the studio behind GTA and Red Dead in 1998 with his brother and a couple of other games developers.
And now, Dan will be officially parting ways from the company at the beginning of March.
Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, said it was “extremely grateful for his contributions” but stressed in a statement that his brother Sam continues to work for the business.
The reason for Dan’s resignation has not been confirmed but reportedly, he has been taking an extended break since the beginning of Spring 2019.
What this means for the companies future, and games like GTA 6 remains to be seen.
Despite a 24 percent drop in sales, Call of duty Black Ops 3 is still holding firm at the top. Grand Theft Auto V has risen from fourth to second and FIFA 16 is number three. No new games in the charts.
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2016 UKIE Ltd
These charts cannot be reproduced either in print or online without obtaining permission from Ukie. If you wish to reproduce the charts in print or online, please contact david.smith@ukie.org.uk for the appropriate license.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is now available on the latest iOS devices, and coming soon for Android and Amazon devices.
In Liberty City Stories, former trusted wise guy for the Leone crime family, Toni Cipriani returns home after spending time in hiding for killing a made man. Now, the streets of Liberty City are in turmoil, as warring families vie for control and the town begins to self-destruct under waves of political corruption, organized crime, drug trafficking and union strikes. Deranged hit men, morally depraved tycoons, cynical politicians and even his own mother stand in the way as Toni tries to bring the city under Leone family control.
Originally designed with mobile gameplay in mind, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories returns with enhancements including real time lighting and shadows, upgraded textures and art, greater draw distance, performance enhancements for touch-based gaming including updated analog steering and rebalanced targeting, cross-platform cloud saves via Social Club, support for Apple’s 3D touch and more.
In addition to cross-platform cloud saves, players who download Liberty City Stories and then sign in to Social Club within the app will unlock the bonus I HEART LC t-shirt with the same account used in Grand Theft Auto Online for PlayStation 4, Xbox One or PC. Once you’ve signed in, the shirt will be available for free at any GTA Online clothing store.
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2015 UKIE Ltd
These charts cannot be reproduced either in print or online without obtaining permission from Ukie. If you wish to reproduce the charts in print or online, please contact david.smith@ukie.org.uk for the appropriate license.
The second chart of the week and no new games have entered this week but we do have an old favourite at number one. Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V has retaken the number one spot pushing Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare down to number two.
Leisure software charts compiled by Chart Track, (C)2015 UKIE Ltd
These charts cannot be reproduced either in print or online without obtaining permission from Ukie. If you wish to reproduce the charts in print or online, please contact david.smith@ukie.org.uk for the appropriate license.
Dan and Sam Houser have been named among the 1,000 wealthiest Britons, along with a number of other notable games industry names.
The list was compiled and published in The Sunday Times, as spotted by Polygon. The Houser brothers, best known for co-founding Grand Theft Auto firm Rockstar Games, were ranked at No.947, with a combined fortune of £90m ($151m).
However, the richest games industry entry to the list is Mel Morris from Candy Crush Saga creator King. Morris reached No.238 on the list with wealth of £407m ($684m).
This is the first time in six years that The Sunday Times has run its wealthiest Brit list, raising the minimum value of entrants from £80m to £85m.
The Housers’ latest title Grand Theft Auto V made $1bn after just three days on sale when it was released in September.
The games industry is ever growing and I imagine we will see more and more UK games industry personal appearing on the list in the future.
When Lee lost the ability to play video games because of spinal muscular atrophy, he lost a major part of his life. But with the help of gamer’s charity SpecialEffect, he’s conquered Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto V.
“I’ve played games all my life,” he said, “and I got quite depressed when I couldn’t play them. It was taking a big part of who I was away.”
SpecialEffect, who specialise in helping people with disabilities to experience the fun and inclusion of video games, worked with Lee to find a customised equipment setup that exactly suited his individual abilities.
The charity positioned microswitches to harness the small finger movements in his right hand, and mounted two joysticks that he can operate using his chin.
“I didn’t think I’d be able to play GTA because of my limitations, but there are no limitations anymore,” he said. “With games I can do the things I can’t do because of my disability,” he said. “I can play football with my brother by playing FIFA, or drive cars.”
“Disabilities are very frustrating and limiting – you’re basically imprisoned. This is the charity that could help change your life and bring something back that you thought you’d lost.”
Before his condition had advanced, Lee had found out about the charity through a clicking on the SpecialEffect pitchside advertising board in Sports Interactive’s Football Manager 13 game.
Nick Streeter, fundraiser at the charity, said “We’re absolute delighted to be able to help Lee. His physical abilities are changing over time, and we’ll keep visiting him to modify his equipment so that he can continue to play games as effectively as possible.”
“Games are an amazing medium through which people make friends, socialise and come together for a common cause. To be able to extend that medium to people that would otherwise not be involved is both an honour and a privilege.”
Lee’s story is featured in a short YouTube video, shown below, by the charity
Rockstar Games is proud to announce that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is now available for select Android and Amazon Kindle devices. Upon its original release, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas took the groundbreaking series to new heights, delivering three detailed cities and an entire state for players to roam.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas features a vast open-world covering the state of San Andreas and its three major cities – Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas. In addition to enhanced visual fidelity and over 70 hours of gameplay, the game has received several technical upgrades and has been specially tuned for use with mobile devices. Upgrades and enhancements for all mobile versions include:
Re-mastered, high-resolution graphics, including lighting enhancements, an enriched color palette and improved character models;
Context Sensitive Actions: automatically vault over low walls and objects;
Full suite of aiming options: auto-aim, free-aim, and touch targeting;
Dual analog stick controls for full camera and movement control;
Three different touch control schemes and customizable controls;
Physical controller support for compatible devices;
Cloud save support for Rockstar Social Club Members;
Updated checkpoint system.
Five years ago, Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Now it’s the early 90’s and Carl’s got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster. On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is available for £4.99, and can be purchased on the Google Play Store, Amazon Appstore and the iOS App Store. Coming soon to Windows mobile devices.
Rockstar Games is proud to announce that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is now available for select iOS devices.
Upon its original release, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas took the groundbreaking series to new heights, delivering three detailed cities and an entire state for players to roam.
“Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was a giant leap forward for the series, bringing the early ’90s West Coast to life in a massive world full of possibilities,” said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. “We’re thrilled for players to experience it all on mobile devices.”
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas features a vast open-world covering the state of San Andreas and its three major cities – Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas. In addition to enhanced visual fidelity and over 70 hours of gameplay, the game has received several technical upgrades for the iOS version and has been specially modified for use with mobile devices. Upgrades and enhancements include:
Re-mastered, high-resolution graphics including lighting enhancements, an enriched color palette and improved character models;
Dynamic detailed shadows and real-time environmental reflections (iPhone 5 series/iPad 4th Gen and above);
Physical controller support for all Made-for-iOS controllers;
Cloud save support for playing across all of your iOS devices for Rockstar Social Club Members;
Updated checkpoint system;
Dual analog stick controls for full camera and movement control;
Three different touch control schemes and customizable controls.
Five years ago, Carl Johnson escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Now it’s the early 90’s and Carl’s got to go home. His mother has been murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster. On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is available for $6.99, and can be purchased for iOS.
Predictive analytics specialists GamesAnalytics, has today published a special report which explores the Free-2-Play (F2P) potential of Grand Theft Auto Online.
The latest release of the game took Rockstar’s blockbuster franchise in an ambitious new direction, with a multiplayer world and in-game economy and the Benchmark report assesses whether GTA Online would also make a successful standalone F2P game.
The report has been produced using GamesAnalytics’ evidenced based research methodology, where 50 game design aspects across six main categories including Monetisation, Retention, Engagement and Virality are assessed against industry best practice F2P game design from over 80 F2P titles.
The report found that GTA Online surpassed the best in genre scores for categories including Retention, Game Mechanics and Engagement. However, if the game was released as a standalone F2P title then the report identifies mechanics that it would benefit from improving key mechanics to achieve high levels of Monetization and Virality.
Based on the reporting findings, GamesAnalytics highlights five recommendations in the report to help achieve best practice F2P design:
1. Improve the currency structure with first / second payment structure
2. Introduce a VIP structure to fast track progress and reward members
3. Develop a trading mechanism to help increase community aspects
4. Utilise no lose gambling mechanics
5. Build in reward mechanics for social sharing
Mark Robinson, Co-founder and COO GamesAnalytics, commented on the report: “GTA Online is clearly a quality bestselling premium game and this Benchmark report shows its F2P potential as a standalone game. The assessment does however highlight when designing F2P games all areas of Player Relationship Management need to be taken into consideration in particular mechanics that maximise virality, monetization and retention.
F2P game design is evolving across multiple platforms and genres. GamesAnalytics’ tools and services help publishers and developers understand best practice game design and integrate learnings upfront in the design and development process.”
These could be helpful suggestions to bear in mind for your own F2P game if you choose to take that route.
The Train2Game Blog 