Rockstar has been teasing Grand Theft Auto 6 in recent weeks and it seems the game’s announcement is just around the corner – hopefully. We have been waiting years after all. However, in a stunning development, the studio’s top writer has apparently resigned from his post.
Michael Unsworth, VP of writing at Rockstar Games, has reportedly left the studio. The writer’s departure has yet to be confirmed by Rockstar or parent company Take-Two Interactive as of writing. However, Unsworth’s LinkedIn profile has been updated to indicate that he has left Rockstar this year.
Unsworth has a very impressive portfolio of work having written Grand Theft Auto 4, Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire, GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Max Payne 3 during his 16-year tenure at Rockstar, all of which are critically acclaimed titles.
We assume that he also worked on Grand Theft Auto 6 before leaving the company. GTA 6 has been in development for several years now and Unsworth would surely have made his mark on the upcoming game before his departure.
BREAKING:
Vice President of writing at Rockstar Games Michael Unsworth appears to have left the company after 16 years, at least according to his LinkedIn.
He's most notable for writing both Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption II, Grand Theft Auto IV & V, Max Payne 3,… pic.twitter.com/ntR7qQznvN
— SWEGTA (@SWEGTA) August 26, 2023
The resignation of Unsworth is the most recent in a string of departures by Grand Theft Auto series writers. Dan Houser left the studio shortly after the release of Red Dead Online in March 2020. Jeffrey Crawford “Lazlow” Jones (yes, THAT Lazlow) also left Rockstar in August 2020.
Unsworth, Houser, and Rupert Humphries are the three main writers of Rockstar’s most recent titles including Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto 5. Humphries is reportedly still connected with the studio.
Fans of the Grand Theft Auto series on the PS5 subreddit are lamenting the loss of key Rockstar employees. The users are worried that the story of Grand Theft Auto 6 will not have the same depth as GTA 5 and Red Dead 2. Others fear that without the prominent writers in the series, the studio may shorten the single-player campaign and focus more on the online side of GTA 6.
However, some users point out that the story of Grand Theft Auto 6 would have already been completed at this point. Given the massive amounts of GTA 6 leaks last year, it would be safe to assume that most (if not all) of the story for the upcoming game was already written a while ago.
The GTA 6 rumor mill has been buzzing lately with Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick seemingly hinting at the release window for the highly-anticipated sequel. According to Zelnick, Take-Two is targeting $8 billion in sales during the fiscal year 2025. Grand Theft Auto 6 is the only game in Rockstar’s pipeline that can generate that many sales.
Well, for now, fans of the series will have to wait for the official announcement of Grand Theft Auto 6. There is speculation that the upcoming title will be announced at The Game Awards in December and released around the holiday season.
