Former GTA and RDR devs reveal updates on their own new open world games

Lazlow, who was a writer, director, producer, radio show host and more at Rockstar Games for around 20 years, has shared an update on the open world action adventure games his new studio is working on.

Lazlow worked at Rockstar on GTA 3 which released in 2001 right through to the studio's last full release in Red Dead Redemption 2. He left the studio in 2020 to focus on his family before teaming up with Dan Houser again, co-founding Absurd Ventures.

The studio is working on two open world games simultaneously, one that's in the A Better Paradise sci-fi universe from the audio fiction series and another that's set in the Absurdaverse, a comedy satire world.

Speaking to indy100 ahead of the release of Absurd Venture's first issue of American Caper, Lazlow shared an update on the development of both games.

Lazlow spoke to indy100 ahead of the release of American Caper / Supplied

"Both games are humming along," he said. "It's fun because once a week, we have a company wide meeting where people share their progress on the games, comic books, animated stuff we're working on and it inspires them to see what everyone else is doing.

"The two games are vastly different open worlds.

"Dan [Houser] and I enjoy the creative momentum of working on several projects; it's great when you're writing on A Better Paradise and you get stuck with a creative problem but then you can jump into the game set in the Absurdaverse and you're cranking through work on that.

"It'll then come to you on the other game where you think 'this is what we should do for this character or this environment'."

Lazlow spoke with indy100 ahead of the latest release from Absurd Ventures, which is comic American Caper, with issue one out now.

Elsewhere from indy100:

• Former GTA and Red Dead Redemption writers releasing new fictional podcast
• Lazlow on writing Red Dead Redemption 2: "I spent years of my life writing in the 1899 vernacular"

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