Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser says GTA is so successful because of its "sense of freedom," and because it "smashed together" shooting, driving, and simulation genres in a way games hadn't done before

Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser has explained why he thinks the Grand Theft Auto series became so successful.

I don't think I need to explain how popular GTA is. While it will always be in the shadow of DMA Design's (now Rockstar North) monumental hit Space Station Silicon Valley, it's done pretty well for itself, with GTA 5 being the second-best-selling game of all time behind Minecraft. And while people liked the first two entries, it was the series' jump to 3D with 2001's GTA 3 that sent it to its superstar status, with the momentum of that release sticking around to all of its sequels through to today – even when it'll have been 13 years since the last entry when GTA 6 releases.

Speaking to Channel 4 on Sunday Brunch, Houser was asked why GTA became so successful and whether it was simply because it allowed players to be "a version of ourselves we know we can't play out."

Houser says that's "partly" the case and that it was "partly [because] it put you in this exaggerated cinematic world."

However, Houser reckons, "It was this sense of freedom." He explains, "Before that, games were either a shooting game, or a driving game, or a simulation game, and it was all three smashed together in a way that felt very free."

And given the popularity of games like VRChat, GTA roleplay, and Fortnite, as well as Meta's failed ambitions for the metaverse, Houser says that with GTA, "those were the first games that showed you this idea of just living in this fake place."

Former Rockstar and GTA lead Dan Houser says gaming can "either go somewhere really interesting or somewhere that gets overly focused on making money."