GTA 6: Sam Houser, the Rockstar founder who announced the game

Sam Houser is the co-founder and president of Rockstar Games, the studio releasing Grand Theft Auto VI on November 19, 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. His name is on the two texts that launched the game: the November 8, 2023 message and Take-Two’s December 4, 2023 press release.

From BMG to Rockstar

Born in London in November 1971, he started at Bertelsmann Music Group in 1990, in the post room. By 1994 he had moved to the company’s interactive division, and in 1996 he became head of development at BMG Interactive. In December 1998 he founded Rockstar Games with his brother Dan Houser, Terry Donovan, Gary Foreman and Jamie King, as a Take-Two Interactive label.

Wikipedia lists him as the series’ producer “since the third game,” GTA III, released in 2001. Take-Two says that launch “pioneered the open-world genre.” His other credits include Bully (2006), Red Dead Redemption (2010), L.A. Noire (2011), Max Payne 3 (2012) and Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018). Time named both brothers among its 100 most influential people of 2009, and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2014.

Dan Houser, the series’ principal writer, left Rockstar Games on March 11, 2020. Sam Houser stayed on as president. GTA 6’s writing is now led by Rupert Humphries, and development by Rockstar North in Edinburgh.

Who owns Rockstar Games

Houser’s title is president, and the studio he leads belongs to Take-Two Interactive, its parent since the founding in December 1998. The New York publisher says it releases games “principally through Rockstar Games, 2K, and Zynga.” Take-Two’s chairman and CEO, as titled in its August 7, 2026 results release, is Strauss Zelnick, in charge since an investor-led takeover in 2007. To the question of who the Rockstar CEO is, the answer has two halves: Houser runs the studio, Zelnick runs the company that owns it.

His public statements

Date	Where	What he said
May 24, 2021	CircoLoco Records launch	“Music is fundamental to Rockstar Games”
November 8, 2023	Rockstar Newswire message	A first trailer “for the next Grand Theft Auto” in early December
December 4, 2023	Take-Two press release	GTA VI pushes “the limits of what’s possible”

The November 8 message never named the game. Signed “Thank you, Sam Houser,” it tied the news to the studio’s 25th anniversary and to the idea Rockstar was built on in 1998: that video games “could come to be as essential to culture as any other form of entertainment.” The rest of that campaign is covered in our trailer 1 entry.

On December 4, 2023, his quote led the release that announced the game for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, then slated for 2025:

“Grand Theft Auto VI continues our efforts to push the limits of what’s possible in highly immersive, story-driven open-world experiences. We’re thrilled to be able to share this new vision with players everywhere.”

The same release put GTA V sales above 190 million units. Both delays since, on May 2, 2025 and November 6, 2025, came out in the name of Rockstar Games and Take-Two, whose CEO Strauss Zelnick fields the analyst questions.

The GQ interview that fell through

On October 3, 2026, TheGamer reported that GQ writer Sam White said Houser had pulled out of an exclusive GTA 6 interview for “personal reasons.” GQ had spent four years in talks with Rockstar, and the interview had been locked in back in April. Until November 19, the studio’s voice stays with Rob Nelson and Aaron Garbut, the two co-heads of Rockstar North.