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Smilegate announced a strategic investment in Dan Houser’s Absurd Ventures on December 4, 2024, but did not disclose the amount or detailed equity terms. The announcement described a partnership to pursue opportunities around Absurd’s new intellectual property. In August 2025, Smilegate announced a separate agreement to globally publish and fund development of an upcoming A BETTER PARADISE open-world science-fiction game.
How much did Smilegate invest?
The amount was not disclosed in Smilegate’s December 4, 2024 announcement. That release calls the deal a strategic investment but does not state a dollar value, ownership percentage, or other detailed equity terms. It is therefore not possible to give a reliable figure from the companies’ published announcement.
What was the 2024 investment intended to do?
Smilegate said it and Absurd Ventures intended to combine Smilegate’s Asian-market expertise with Absurd’s creative vision and AAA game experience to pursue global business opportunities. It also cited potential collaboration in online and live-service areas, drawing on Smilegate’s experience with CROSSFIRE and Houser’s team’s experience overseeing Grand Theft Auto Online. Those were stated aims, not confirmation that a particular product or commercial outcome had already resulted.
Who are Dan Houser and Absurd Ventures?
Absurd Ventures is a U.S.-based entertainment company founded by Dan Houser, a Rockstar Games co-founder. Smilegate’s 2024 release said Houser spent more than 20 years at Rockstar and helped creatively direct the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption franchises. It reported more than 550 million combined units sold worldwide for those franchises; that is Smilegate’s figure from 2024, not a current independently verified total.
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Absurd said it was developing original intellectual property across video games, live-action and animated film and television, audio-fiction podcasts, books, and comics. Its named fictional worlds include A BETTER PARADISE, a science-fiction universe, and American Caper, a crime-fiction universe.
What is Smilegate publishing with Dan Houser?
On August 7, 2025, Smilegate announced a global publishing agreement for Absurd Ventures’ upcoming AAA open-world science-fiction action-adventure game set in the A BETTER PARADISE universe. Smilegate said it planned to make a full-scale investment in the project, including development funding. This is a separate, game-specific arrangement announced after the company-level strategic investment.
Smilegate’s August 7, 2025 release described the game as being in early development and said schedule and platform details would come later. It did not disclose the game’s budget or announce a release date or platform list.
Who is working on the game?
According to the August 2025 announcement, Houser is writing and creatively directing the game with his worldbuilding and creative team, including Lazlow and Michael Unsworth. Absurd’s development was being led by Greg Borrud, whom Smilegate identified as a former Niantic general manager and Pandemic Studios co-founder.
How does the game relate to the existing story world?
A BETTER PARADISE already had an audio-fiction series, Volume One: An Aftermath. Smilegate said it debuted at the top of Apple’s Fiction charts and won the 2024 Signal Award for Best Episode of Scripted Fiction. Its August 2025 release said a first-volume novelization was due in October 2025; Absurd Ventures Press subsequently listed A BETTER PARADISE Volume One: An Aftermath as a hardcover novel.
How the two Smilegate deals differ
| Relationship | Scope | What was disclosed |
|---|---|---|
| Strategic investment, announced December 4, 2024 | Company-level opportunity to partner on Absurd Ventures’ new intellectual property | Smilegate did not disclose the investment amount or detailed equity terms. Smilegate, 2024 |
| Global publishing agreement, announced August 7, 2025 | Publishing and development funding for the named A BETTER PARADISE game | Smilegate described the game as in early development; budget, schedule, and platforms were not announced. Smilegate, 2025 |
What readers can explore from Absurd Ventures
The investment is a business relationship, not a consumer product. For readers interested in Absurd’s work, the company’s official pages list related books and comics:
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- A BETTER PARADISE is listed by Absurd Ventures Press, which identifies itself as the company’s book imprint and says it is distributed by Simon & Schuster. The imprint describes it as Dan Houser’s first novel.
- The official American Caper page identifies Houser as creator and writer, credits Dark Horse Comics as publisher, and lists the first paperback collection, American Caper Volume 1: Red-Pilled Blues, which collects issues 1–4.
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