Career
Houser joined Bertelsmann Music Group in 1990, working in the company's post room. In 1994, he was named to BMG's new interactive entertainment division. By 1996, Houser became Head of Development at BMG Interactive.[4]
Houser became a video producer for BMG Interactive after he and his father had lunch with the executive producer of the music label, who claimed that Houser had some good ideas. After BMG partnered with a small CD ROM company, Houser transferred to the Interactive Publishing division of BMG in order to work closely with developing video games.
Credited as executive producer, Houser is also the creator of several of the games in the Grand Theft Auto series with his brother Dan. On Grand Theft Auto III his responsibilities were, in his words, to be "militant on ensuring the game had a look, a sound, a story and a feel that worked".[5] His description of the series as a whole is that the three sixth-generation Grand Theft Auto games form a "trilogy, [featuring] our distorted look at the East Coast around the time of the millennium (Grand Theft Auto III), followed by our reinterpretation of '80s Miami (Vice City), and lastly, our look at early-'90s California (San Andreas)".[6]
Despite their status as the creators of Grand Theft Auto, one of the most successful video game franchises of all time, Houser and his brother both prefer to avoid the media spotlight and instead focus on the Rockstar Games brand rather than any one person getting the credit for the games' success.[7] In 2009, both brothers appeared in Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2009 list.[8] Houser also produced Max Payne 3 and Grand Theft Auto V.[9]
Houser was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' Hall of Fame in 2014.[10] He was portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe in the 2015 television film The Gamechangers.[11]
In May 2025, Houser and his brother were listed in the Sunday Times Rich List with an estimated net worth of £400 million.[12]
