Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser's new studio, Absurd Ventures, is spinning up another one. This one is called Absurd Marin, and it's being formed with talent from Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios.
The news comes from a new press release confirming that Ascendant Studios founder and game director Bret Robbins will lead the new studio. What the studio is working on is a little bit hush-hush right now, but we do know that Absurd Marin is working on a "story-driven action-adventure game" set in an unannounced Absurd universe. Much like the rest of Absurd Ventures' projects, this one is under wraps for now as teams are in the early stages of development.
"Bret has put together a highly talented, passionate team," Houser says. "We are very excited to have them join forces with us as we begin to work together on one of our original new titles."
Robbins adds: "We love the focus on storytelling and world-building at Absurd Ventures. We are thrilled to team up and bring our combined expertise to work on an original game set in an incredibly fun new universe."
Since going public in 2023, Absurd Ventures has debuted numerous IP universes across various multimedia projects, from audio fiction series to comics and graphic novels. Perhaps most eye-catching, though, is an open-world game we're yet to see. It's separate from what Absurd Marin is cooking up, but the former GTA and Red Dead lead isn't done with games yet.
As for Ascendant Studios, the developer released its maiden game, Immortals of Aveum, back in 2023 – a single-player first-person magic shooter from EA and Call of Duty veterans. Many people dug it, but lukewarm sales would lead Robbins to go on to say it wasn't helped by a busy calendar and the success of Baldur's Gate 3. Still, that wouldn't stop one former developer from saying that "a AAA single-player shooter in today's market was a truly awful idea," especially one that reportedly cost $125 million.
As a result, Ascendant Studios went on to lay off "about 45%" of its workforce not long after release and then placed a further 30 developers on furlough the following year.
