Grand Theft Auto 6 won't just be the biggest game of 2026: it's the first series entry since the departure of several Rockstar big-hitters who've been involved almost from the start. Things didn't go so well for longtime GTA producer Leslie Benzies, whose studio Build A Rocket Boy released MindsEye earlier this year. That was a bit of a disaster, to the extent the developer immediately went through a round of layoffs.
Another departure was Dan Houser, a co-founder of Rockstar who left in 2020 to establish Absurd Ventures, which is so far living up to the name by releasing a graphic novel, an audio drama, a novel, and recently announcing the Absurdaverse. Before leaving Rockstar, Houser was a lead writer on every GTA game since GTA London 1969 (released in 1999), and with GTA5 first releasing in 2013 it's not unreasonable to think he may have had some involvement there.
