Dan Houser Says GTA 3's Cover Art Was Changed After 9/11

Dan Houser, one of the co-founders of Rockstar Games who left the company in 2020, has given a wide-ranging interview to IGN that looks back on some of the studio's most talked-about projects. He covers a lot of ground, from the difficult path to making Bully to decisions that were made late in the process.

Bully, the 2006 school-set action game, had a famously troubled production. Houser's account adds to the sense that the game was shaped by pressure and setbacks as much as by the original plan.

The most surprising detail concerns Grand Theft Auto III. Houser says the game's artwork was altered at the last minute because of the September 11 attacks. The change landed in the weeks after the tragedy, when publishers and developers across every industry were rethinking what felt appropriate to show the public. It is a small but telling footnote in the history of one of the most influential games of its era.

He also reflects on the reaction to the ending of Red Dead Redemption, which divided players when it arrived. And he offers a candid verdict on Max Payne 3, which he believes did not succeed. Rare for a former leader to be so direct about a title from his own studio's catalog.

The interview is worth reading for anyone interested in how Rockstar's games were made, and how the people behind them judge their own work years later.