Rockstar founder explains why he’s press-shy

Rockstar Games is one of this decade’s most commercially powerful – and controversial – games studios.

But label founders the Houser brothers rarely give interviews – the head of key Edinburgh-based studio Rockstar North Leslie Benzies is quoted even less.

That’s not because they want to keep a low profile to avoid criticism, says Dan Houser: it’s to reinforce the fact that games development is a collaborative effort.

“I’ve read that [I’m cultivating a mystique], but it’s a myth," he told The Times in a profile piece today.

"But me, Sam and Leslie are very aware of the fact that we as a triumvirate do not make the games; 200, 300, 700 people make the games. It’s easy for people to focus on individuals because that’s an easier story to tell, but it’s not relevant to what we do.

“Furthermore, the games are too full of anti-celebrity diatribe for us to be anything but hypocritical if we were to jump on that bandwagon. It truly holds no appeal for any of us to be a celebrity. I find it very depressing as a consumer when you read about one actor’s experience of making a movie. What about the writer, the producer, the cinematographer or the director?

“We’ve got, you know, 100 plus people, at least 80 per cent of whom are far more intelligent than me, and to start saying it’s me or Sam or the pair of us because we’re such crazy brothers just seems stupid. And it’s not fair or appropriate.”