dan houser says red dead redemption and bully nearly didn't happen

Saw this GamesRadar+ piece floating around and it's one of those things that makes you stop and think. Dan Houser, the Rockstar co-founder who left a few years back, apparently said Red Dead Redemption and Bully nearly didn't happen. The quote they pulled is a little vague, something like "And lots of other moments when games that didn't happen could have." But the headline is pretty clear.

I know Houser has been doing the interview rounds lately, talking about Vice City's writing and why Agent never came together. This one hits different though. RDR and Bully are two of the most beloved games Rockstar ever put out. If either of those got scrapped, the whole trajectory of the studio changes. No Red Dead means no Red Dead 2, no Arthur Morgan, no Dutch's plan memes. No Bully means no Jimmy Hopkins, no boarding school chaos. And who knows what that would have meant for the way Rockstar approaches open worlds today.

It's weird to think about how many classic games were one bad meeting away from never existing. Rockstar has always had a ton of projects in some stage of development that we never see. Agent is the famous one, but there were probably dozens more. Houser saying "lots of other moments when games that didn't happen could have" makes me wonder what else was on the table at some point. And now with GTA 6 a month out, it's wild to think how different Rockstar's catalog could have been.

What Rockstar game that never saw the light of day do you wish had actually happened?

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Source: GamesRadar+ · Curated content.