One of Rockstart’s most experienced employees has left the GTA 6 developer. He was responsible for many of the games’ excellent stories.
It’s the end of an era: Michael Unsworth has, (as his LinkedIn profile shows), left his previous employer, Rockstar, after almost 16 years. And you probably love his work if you’re reading this. After all, his metier was the countless stories, big and small, told by the hit developer’s games
Who is Michael Unsworth?
Michael Unsworth didn’t join Rockstar as a newcomer to the industry in 2007. He joined as a Senior Creative Writer and was eventually appointed Writing Director after twelve years, during the development of GTA 6. His promotion to Vice President of Writing followed two years later, making him one of the company’s top executives.
In keeping with the long time he held the pen at Rockstar, you’ll find his work in many games, including:
- Grand Theft Auto IV
- Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2
- Max Payne 3
- L.A. Noire
- Grand Theft Auto V
Are there any publicly known reasons?
No, so far neither he nor Rockstar have commented on the reasons for the exit. Michael Unsworth, meanwhile, was not the only recent leadership departure Rockstar has had to deal with. The following post, on Platform X, formerly known as Twitter, illustrates the loss of experience:
Michael Unsworth the Vice President of Writing is just another major figure to leave Rockstar Games.
– Lazlow Jones (Producer/Writer/Directors) left in 2020 after 19 years+.
-Dan Houser (Co Founder) left in 2020 after 25 years+
– Leslie Benzies (President of R* North) Left in… pic.twitter.com/ByQGylDomJ– GTA News 🔴 RockstarINTEL.com (@GTAonlineNews) August 27, 2023
What impact will Unsworth’s departure have on GTA 6?
It’s likely that the departure of the former head writer won’t have any real impact on the hopefully not too distant title. The story as well as the dialogues should have been written long ago. It will probably be a few years before we even get a glimpse of change.
What do you think? Will the departure of Michael Unsworth still have an impact on the development of GTA 6 and the content close to the release? Did you know the name? Or is he just another of the admittedly long credits of Rockstar games? Feel free to drop us your thoughts and memories of stories from their games in the comments!
