Absurd Ventures

Absurd Ventures LLC
Company type	Private
Industry	Media, entertainment, video game development
Founded	February 2021; 5 years ago
Founder	Dan Houser
Headquarters	Santa Monica, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Dan Houser (Founder), Adam Tedman (Marketing leader), Lazlow Jones (Producer), Michael Unsworth (Writer), Wendy Smith (Chief Operating Officer), Greg Borrud (Games division head), Bret Robbins (Head of Absurd Marin)
Number of employees	50 (2025)

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Absurd Ventures, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 28 November 20255 sources

Absurd Ventures LLC is a U.S.-based company specializing in media, entertainment, and video game development, with its main office located in Santa Monica, California. Established by Dan Houser in February 2021, the firm concentrates on generating original intellectual properties spanning video games, live-action and animated television, films, fiction podcasts, novels, and comic books.

History

Following his exit from Rockstar Games in 2020, Dan Houser founded Absurd Ventures to explore fresh creative avenues. The company was officially registered in Delaware in February 2021 and expanded with a gaming division set up in Altrincham by June of the same year. Based in Santa Monica, the organization’s goal is to "develop new universes and craft compelling narratives across various platforms." Several ex-Rockstar personnel have joined the team, including marketing leader Adam Tedman (2022), producer Lazlow Jones (June 2023), writer Michael Unsworth (October 2023), and Wendy Smith as chief operating officer (November 2023). The games division is headed by Greg Borrud, co-founder of Pandemic Studios.

In September 2024, Absurd Ventures unveiled a new branch named Absurd Marin in San Rafael, California. This studio incorporated roughly 20 developers from the former Ascendant Studios, known for Immortals of Aveum. Bret Robbins, who founded Ascendant and served as its game director, leads this unit. Absurd Marin is currently working on a narrative-driven action-adventure title based on an original intellectual property. Later in December 2024, South Korean publisher Smilegate made a strategic investment in Absurd Ventures.

Throughout 2024, the company collaborated with QCode to release A Better Paradise, an audio fiction series delving into themes of artificial intelligence and virtual reality; it debuted at the top of Apple’s Fiction charts. Looking ahead to 2025, Absurd Ventures intends to publish American Caper, a crime-fiction comic book series. In January 2025, the firm introduced the "Absurdaverse," a universe populated by diverse characters featured across animation projects and an upcoming story-focused action-comedy video game. The first novel within this universe, Houser’s A Better Paradise Volume One: An Aftermath, is scheduled for distribution by Simon & Schuster in 2025 alongside an accompanying video game.

Dan Houser designed A Better Paradise to be adaptable across multiple formats—including audio series, novels, television shows, and video games—while the Absurdaverse primarily targets animation and gaming markets. The American Caper series focuses on comic books and trade paperback formats. By 2025, Absurd Ventures employs approximately 50 professionals distributed between its two studios.

Projects


Year	Title	Type	Series	Template:Refh
2024	A Better Paradise	Podcast series	A Better Paradise	^[1]
2025	American Caper	Graphic novel	American Caper	^[2]
2025	A Better Paradise Volume One: An Aftermath	Novel	A Better Paradise	^[3]
rowspan="4" Template:TBA	Untitled animated series	Series	Absurdaverse	^[4]
Untitled book	Trade paperback	American Caper	^[4]
Untitled action-adventure game	Video game	Absurdaverse	^[5]
Untitled game	Video game	A Better Paradise	^[4]

References

↑ Cripe, Michael (May 16, 2024). "First Project From Rockstar Co-Founder's Studio Is an Audio Fiction Series Starring Andrew Lincoln". IGN. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
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↑ Dastoor, Vaspaan (February 3, 2025). "GTA Creator Reveals New Project Called Absurdaverse". TheGamer. Archived from the original on February 16, 2025. Retrieved March 12, 2025.

[1] Cripe, Michael (May 16, 2024). "First Project From Rockstar Co-Founder's Studio Is an Audio Fiction Series Starring Andrew Lincoln". IGN. Retrieved March 12, 2025.

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[5] Dastoor, Vaspaan (February 3, 2025). "GTA Creator Reveals New Project Called Absurdaverse". TheGamer. Archived from the original on February 16, 2025. Retrieved March 12, 2025.

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History

Projects

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