Smilegate is investing in Dan Houser's Absurd Ventures.
Smilegate is investing in Dan Houser's Absurd Ventures.
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Smilegate invests in GTA leader Dan Houser’s Absurd Ventures

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 3 min

South Korean game publisher Smilegate has made a strategic investment and become a partner in Absurd Ventures, a game studio founded by Rockstar Games cofounder Dan Houser.

Houser spent more than 20 years at Rockstar games and drove the creative direction of the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption franchises, which have collectively sold more than 550 million units worldwide. (Theoretically, that’s about $33 billion worth of games). Houser left Rockstar Games in 2020.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.