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[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

It seems that Michael Unsworth, the Vice President of Writing has left Rockstar Games after 16 years with the company.

According to his updated LinkedIn, it seems as though Michael left the company sometime this year. It hasn’t been updated as of yet with any new company that he’s joined so he may have left in recent weeks.

On his LinkedIn, it has been updated to state he was at Rockstar Games from 2007 until 2023 (it originally said he was there from 2007 until present) and his Linkedin about section has been updated to say ‘Mike is an accomplished writer who spent over 16 years working for Rockstar Games as a creative lead on some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful video game franchises of all time.’

Michael joined Rockstar Games in 2007 as a senior Creative writer, with his first project being Grand Theft Auto IV. He was credited for writing the dialogue for pedestrians. Michael also voiced a commercial in GTA IV.

Michael worked on every game released since GTA IV as a creative writer. He is credited in Grand Theft Auto V as the Vice President of Writing and for additional in game dialogue.

He is also credited in Red Dead Redemption 2 for writing the game along side Dan Houser who left Rockstar Games in 2020 as the Co-Founder & Vice President of Rockstar Games and Rupert Humphries who is currently still working at Rockstar Games. He’s also credited for voicing local population in RDR2.

Michael is just one of many of known names to leave Rockstar Games in recent years, Leslie Benzies left in 2016, Dan Houser left in March 2020 and Lazlow also departed the company in August 2020.

Games Michael Unsworth has worked on:

• Grand Theft Auto IV
• Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad Of Gay Tony
• Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned
• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
• Midnight Club Los Angeles
• Red Dead Redemption
• Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
• Max Payne 3
• L.A. Noire
• Grand Theft Auto V
• Grand Theft Auto: Online
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Red Dead Online

Vice President of writing leaves Rockstar Games after 16 years - RockstarINTEL

The Vice President of writing of Rockstar Games, Michael Unsworth has left Rockstar Games after 16 years of working there

rockstarintel.com

 

[Del_X]

Hope most of the oversight for GTA VI is done. 16 years is a long time, though - probably just wanted a change.

 

[mansoor1980]

 

[Golgo 13]

Lots of big, important talent leaving Rockstar in the last few years. This is a HUGE blow to the company yet again.

 

[amigastar]

I hope that won't negatively influence GTA VI.

 

[Big Baller]

 

[Loomy]

Lots of big, important talent leaving Rockstar in the last few years. This is a HUGE blow to the company yet again.

You had no idea who this guy was before this news.

 

[ckaneo]

GTA 5 is one of the worst written games ive ever played. And RDR2 is one of the best so it's hard to know what to make of this.

 

[Loomy]

I honestly can't imagine working in the same place for 16 years. Hopefully he's able to retire or move on to something less stressful.

 

[Hudo]

Don't worry, the Vice President of Sitting will take his place. Filling in for the Vice President of Sitting will be the current Head of Standing.

 

[Thirty7ven]

It’s a shame Rockstar decided to chase the wokism fair weather nuts who will just find another reason to trash the game.

 

[Fake]

I hope that won't negatively influence GTA VI.

We all hope, but...

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

Another talented guy leaves Scamstar/Sharkstar/Rotstar/LowEffortPortstar

 

[HL3.exe]

Oof, that's another creative blow for R*. I really like Unsworth's writing (except for GTA V).

He and Dan had some good obscure, sometimes disturbing but believable character writing that stuck in my head. Like that nasty serial killer from GTA IV. Or the tragic biker junky that can't seem to get her life around.

Can't say i'm not worried about GTA VI, even though the premise (according to the leaks) sound solid. In all fairness, Unsworth's main writing work is probably still in GTA VI. From conceptual stage, to content lock.

Edit: but 'hot take', I truly hate how restrictive their games have gotten from a gameplay and narrative approach standpoint, especially with/after GTA IV. My hope is that they loosen up a bit and have more open-ended approach possibilities within their mission structure. Maybe the old guard of writing was holding them back a bit because they wanted you to have a specific experience, instead of letting the player create their own experience through their systems.

 

[rhodesianshepard]

Lots of big, important talent leaving Rockstar in the last few years. This is a HUGE blow to the company yet again.

Meh, the major reason why Rockstar is amazing is because they have thousands of developers who perfect the smallest of details. They can hire and replace anybody imo

And kind of a hot take, but the writing of the GTA franchise has never been amazing. It's mostly just spoofs already existing media while doing a good job of fully utilizing the map to create chaos for the player

 

[Shubh_C63]

I hope gta6 won't shy away from real life parody-critic writing. If the game is releasing next year maybe the narrative work is already done.

 

[mitch1971]

OMG! who's going to write the pedestrian scripts now. Rockstar are finished!!

 

[FeralEcho]

Meh, the major reason why Rockstar is amazing is because they have thousands of developers who perfect the smallest of details. They can hire and replace anybody imo

And kind of a hot take, but the writing of the GTA franchise has never been amazing. It's mostly just spoofs already existing media while doing a good job of fully utilizing the map to create chaos for the player

Ubisoft also has thousands of developers and their games are brown ass shit so no...Talent does matter!!! and it did matter for Rockstar as well so as much as people try to downplay it people like Bensies,Houser brothers or devs who've been with a company for 16 damn years leaving the company WILL have an impact on the products the company creates.How much of an impact remains to be seen.

 

[Golgo 13]

You had no idea who this guy was before this news.

According to Google, there’s 727,000 people who work in the game industry. Do you memorize everyone’s name and their positions at each company in the industry?

Yeah, no one does. That doesn’t change the fact that the exodus of key, long-standing talent in these companies will affect the games we play.

 

[Giallo Corsa]

 

[Roni]

You had no idea who this guy was before this news.

VP of writing for 16 years at Rockstar is an important role, don't see how your point has any weight.

 

[WhamBamThankYouMaam]

Did not get along with their new talent, ChatGTApt.

 

[SHA]

So there won't be story dlc anymore.

 

[draliko]

I honestly can't imagine working in the same place for 16 years. Hopefully he's able to retire or move on to something less stressful.

sorry, don't want to seem rude, but isn't it the norm to work in the same place for such long time? I mean nearly everyone i know has worked pretty much it's entire work life in maximum 2-3 places, or at least did a couple small jobs before "settings in". As a said don't want to seem rude, but this feels so strange for me..

 

[Cashon]

sorry, don't want to seem rude, but isn't it the norm to work in the same place for such long time? I mean nearly everyone i know has worked pretty much it's entire work life in maximum 2-3 places, or at least did a couple small jobs before "settings in". As a said don't want to seem rude, but this feels so strange for me..

I have probably worked at more companies than the number of years you've been alive.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Huge loss for Rockstar. I hope the writing doesn't suffer in GTA 6 because of it.

 

[ManaByte]

 

[CherryFalls]

Rockstars best days are long gone. Not even hyped for gta6 at this point

 

[amigastar]

Rockstars best days are long gone. Not even hyped for gta6 at this point

What makes you think that? Red Dead Redemption 2 was great. Nothing indicating that GTA 6 will be bad besides GTA V Online maybe.

 

[Luigi Mario]

With this departure, Rockstar has now lost all their writing talent from the last 15 years except for Rupert Humphries.
You better hope that the script for GTA VI was already finished years ago and has not been touched up since then, which seems very unlikely.

 

[V1LÆM]

Probably means GTA VI is almost done and lol at people thinking this means Rockstar is doomed. They can afford to hire the best people in the gaming industry. It doesn’t matter if people leave. Anyone would dream of working on a Rockstar game.

 

[V1LÆM]

With this departure, Rockstar has now lost all their writing talent from the last 15 years except for Rupert Humphries.
You better hope that the script for GTA VI was already finished years ago and has not been touched up since then, which seems very unlikely.

The game has been in development since 2014 so I think it’s safe to say the script is finished lol.

 

[Killer8]

Michael Unsworth, Dan Houser, Leslie Benzies, Lazlow, Imran Sarwar (design director of RDR2). All gone.

The company is dead.

 

[draliko]

I have probably worked at more companies than the number of years you've been alive.

Dunno, but could be, i'm at my job for the 17th year now and sincerely i really like it, probably will retire here when it's time. And around me is pretty much the same with everyone i know.
anyway sorry fot the ot

 

[Represent.]

R* can hire the best people in gaming. And also Hollywood. There isn’t a single writer on earth that wouldn’t want to have their name credited in GTA7. GTA6 was probably written years ago. So him leaving probably had no effect on the script. Non issue really

 

[Boss Mog]

I think it's pretty obvious why a lot of long time employees are quitting R* these days.

 

[Luigi Mario]

Michael Unsworth, Dan Houser, Leslie Benzies, Lazlow, Imran Sarwar (design director of RDR2). All gone.

Don't forget Christian Cantamessa, lead writer of RDR1 and the Manhunt series.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

Yeah. I’m hoping that the majority (or all preferably) of the writing has been done for GTAVI. I’m hoping for RDR2 levels of writing with this, that game is a fucking masterpiece in that regard.

With everyone leaving though, I’m keeping my expectations in check.

 

[TGO]

probably just wanted a change

Rock* isn't the only Developer that has had it key people just leave and usually continue doing what they did at another studio or make their own.
We all know what's going on.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Here's to hoping he took care of VI through and through. Man, really not sure what to expect with VI and after. I feel like some of the best have moved on.

 

[amigastar]

I wouldn't mind a GTA competitor from some of the devs who left Rockstar. Maybe even from Top View like the old ones.

 

[Robb]

With the output they have these days I’m not surprised the long-time people have left/are leaving. You can tell that the people who actually cared about the IP are gone, unfortunately.

 

[chlorate]

It’s not like this guy wrote the classic 3/VC/SA trilogy that was actually funny. He wrote the later stuff like GTAIV where the tone had shifted to be more somber. The actual plot of GTAV wasn’t that humorous either.

 

[TransTrender]

GTA6 story might have Saints Row Reboot and Redfall levels of cringe but I'm not sure it will matter that much if the other points of entry are solid.

 

[Killer8]

It’s not like this guy wrote the classic 3/VC/SA trilogy that was actually funny. He wrote the later stuff like GTAIV where the tone had shifted to be more somber. The actual plot of GTAV wasn’t that humorous either.

They lost the writers of those games too - Dan Houser and James Worrall, who left after LCS, and Lazlow who co-wrote a lot of the hilarious radio dialogue.

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

I wouldn't mind a GTA competitor from some of the devs who left Rockstar. Maybe even from Top View like the old ones.

 

[Golgo 13]

Hate to sound cynical, but how do these guys go from doing earth-shattering masterpieces like RDR2 to games that look like cheap rip-offs of PS2 GTA3 from 20 years ago.

So what’s the motivation? Not money, Houser for example already has a net worth of $150 million. Ego? Just retire and enjoy life or stay with the company that has the resources to make industry-changing products. I don’t get the slide into B-level obscurity.

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

Hate to sound cynical, but how do these guys go from doing earth-shattering masterpieces like RDR2 to games that look like cheap rip-offs of PS2 GTA3 from 20 years ago.

So what’s the motivation? Not money, Houser for example already has a net worth of $150 million. Ego? Just retire and enjoy life or stay with the company that has the resources to make industry-changing products. I don’t get the slide into B-level obscurity.

As far as I know the team behind The Precinct has nothing to do with Rockstar.

Don't know why you are quoting me. One user asked for a top down view Game and I provided a video of this game.

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

I hope that won't negatively influence GTA VI.

How could it? If he was responsible for the cringe writing for San Andreas's Grove Street family, and Franklin in GTA V, they're much better without him.

 

[Golgo 13]

As far as I know the team behind The Precinct has nothing to do with Rockstar.

Don't know why you are quoting me. One user asked for a top down view Game and I provided a video of this game.

I’m quoting you because the original poster said

I wouldn't mind a GTA competitor from some of the devs who left Rockstar. Maybe even from Top View like the old ones.

So like most logical people reading your post, I assumed The Precinct was one of them.

Shocking, I know.

Mindseye does have Benzies involved though, right? Looks kinda shit TBH.