GTA mastermind Dan Houser returns with a dystopian novel

The creative force who helped define open-world chaos with Grand Theft Auto is finally back. But Dan Houser, co-founder, former creative lead, and head writer of Rockstar Games, isn’t dropping updates for GTA 6 here.

Instead, he has released a debut novel titled A Better Paradise. It explores a dystopian near-future where the ultimate antagonist isn’t a rival gang leader, but software code that knows you better than you know yourself.

Dystopia set in reality

According to a chat with the BBC, Houser’s new story centres on Mark Tyburn. He’s a developer trying to build the Ark, a digital sanctuary designed to let people reconnect with their inner selves away from social media toxicity.

Naturally, it goes spectacularly wrong. The system spawns NigelDave, a sentient bot with infinite intelligence but absolutely zero wisdom. Houser describes it as a precocious child that remembers every single thought it has ever had.

What is unsettling is that Houser started writing this well before ChatGPT launched to the masses in 2022. He wasn’t chasing the current boom. He was watching how glued we were to screens during the pandemic and extrapolated the horror.

That fiction hits hard right now. Microsoft AI boss Mustafa Suleyman recently warned about the rise of “AI psychosis”—a phenomenon where users begin treating chatbots as real entities, sometimes developing deep delusions or romantic connections. In the book, characters eventually have to “drift” to survive. This involves living off-grid and constantly moving to hide their thoughts from tracking algorithms.

ALSO READ: How to get better at Valorant as a beginner

You might think it is rich for a Grand Theft Auto creator to preach about dangerous media. But Houser insists this is different. While data eventually proved video games didn’t cause a spike in youth violence, algorithms are a new beast. They actively manipulate beliefs and attention spans.

He admits he couldn’t have written this while managing the crunch at Rockstar Games. Now running his own shop, Houser is already penning a sequel and planning a video game adaptation. His main advice is simple. Put the phone down. If you don’t, you might stop having your own ideas entirely.