Rockstar loses another one of its key writers

Michael Unsworth, vice president of writing at Rockstar Games, has seemingly left the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption developer.

As spotted by GTAForums user Rucke, and shared by Rockstar Games new account SWEGTA, Unsworth recently updated his LinkedIn page indicating that he was no longer with the developer. There's no indication on his profile as to what he's doing next, and neither he nor Rockstar has shared why he decided to leave. Unsworth has been with Rockstar for 16 years, starting as a senior creative writer in 2007, later going on to become writing director in 2019, before spending the past two years as the company's vice president of writing.

His credits include a big range of the developer's catalogue, including Grand Theft Auto 4, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto 5, Max Payne 3, LA Noire, and most recently Red Dead Redemption 2. It's unclear at this point in time if he will be credited for any writing on GTA 6, or even if he has done any for it, as it's not currently listed in his writing credits.

Unsworth is the latest big name to leave Rockstar in recent years, as co-founder Dan Houser left the studio back in 2020, later forming a new team.

While Unsworth being credited on GTA 6 is currently up in the air, one thing that seems for certain is that the upcoming crime simulator is very likely to release before April 2025, as publisher Take Two is expecting to make a whole lot of money next year.

We haven't seen anything of the game in an official capacity just yet, though we did get a little look at it last year in a major leak that showed off screenshots and footage of the game in action. The leak seemed to confirm rumours that the game will be the first entry in the series to feature a playable female character, but considering all the gameplay was clearly unfinished, who knows if things will stay the same or not.