Rockstar Games director and writer departs after nearly 20 years

After nearly 20 years, one of Rockstar Games’ most influential employees has moved on.

Lazlow Jones, who played an integral role in writing, directing, and producing games across a variety of Rockstar franchises, including Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, and Max Payne, has left the company. Jones, who also served as Rockstar’s production department co-chair and wrote alongside the studio’s co-founder Dan Houser, confirmed the news in a recent update to his LinkedIn profile. He says he left the company just shy of his 20th anniversary in April.

“I built and led teams of writers, producers, illustrators, animators, motion graphics artists and video editors to help create some of the biggest and most influential media across entertainment,” Jones wrote about his time at Rockstar on his LinkedIn page.

Since April, Jones has been operating a production company called Radio Lazlow. He said he’s currently working on projects for Disney and Netflix and consulting for an unnamed video game company. He didn’t reveal details about the Disney and Netflix properties but did say that he’s also collaborating with an “Emmy winning producer and director formerly of Dreamworks.”

Jones is the second high-profile departure at Rockstar this year. Dan Houser departed the company in March, leaving it in the hands of his brother and co-founder Sam Houser. In a statement at the time, Rockstar owner Take-Two Games didn’t acknowledge Dan Houser’s departure but was sure to make clear that Sam Houser remained at the company.

“Sam and the team remain focused on current and future projects,” Take-Two said at the time.

It’s unknown who will take Jones’ place and what the void he leaves behind could ultimately mean for Rockstar and its wildly popular franchises. The company did not immediately respond to Digital Trends’ request for comment on Jones and his decision to leave.

Looking ahead, Rockstar has said that it plans to launch Grand Theft Auto V on next-generation consoles next year and is rumored to be working on a new entry in the franchise for the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. So far, however, details on that game — and its storyline — are scarce.

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