Dan Houser’s Absurd Ventures is hiring for an open-world game

Studio led by Rockstar co-founder

Absurd Ventures

It’s been over a year since Rockstar co-founder and former GTA creative director and lead writer Dan Houser officially announced Absurd Ventures, his new media company with the mission “to create new universes and to tell great stories, wherever and however we can.”

While Absurd Ventures isn’t restricting itself to video games, there is some movement in that part of its business now – in the form of lots of job openings.

For its studio in Santa Monica, California, Absurd Ventures is currently seeking an art director, lead activity designer, lead designer, lead game systems designer, lead mission designer, lead open world designer, senior art director, senior technical director, and technical director – in essence, almost the entire leadership team needed for a development project.

Of course, the position of lead open world designer is already giving away a key piece of intel – that Absurd Ventures is planning to make an open-world game. “You will lead a multi-disciplinary team to deliver a best-in-class open-world experience rich with characters, encounters, side missions, puzzles, secrets, discoverables, collectables, and more,” the description says.

Experience with Unreal Engine 4 or 5 is described as a plus, hinting at UE5 being used for the project. In addition, the studio seems to be planning on working with external partners for co-development, as experience working in such an environment is another recommended skill.

Most of the leadership positions seem to be expected to go hands-on with development as well, as there is a heavy emphasis across the board “to lead from the trenches.”

The open-world game will apparently feature several game modes and activities, challenging endgame content, and serve casual as well as hardcore players. The activity designer and others should have experience creating content and systems for “action games.” 

The lead open world designer is also recommended to have “multiplayer design experience”, while the technical positions should bring knowhow for a project aiming to be launched on PC as well as consoles.

Given that the company is only starting to assemble the core leadership team for the project, it’s unlikely that we’ll hear any details about it soon. However, the recent layoffs in the industry should ensure that Absurd Ventures’ recruiting efforts fall on fertile ground, so it can’t be too long until a talented pool of candidates is found. If you think you have mettle, check out the job openings on the official website.