Michael Unsworth, the vice president of writing at Rockstar Games, has reportedly stepped down from the position after sixteen years. As reported by Eurogamer and shared by the SWEGTA Twitter Channel less than three hours ago, a LinkedIn account connected to Unsworth appears to confirm his departure, (see further below), despite no official statement from himself or Rockstar.
GameLuster can validate that Eurogamer’s report is correct and under the about section of his LinkedIn profile, it states that Unsworth “spent over 16 years” employed with the company. The phrasing of the sentence would imply the writer has parted ways with the developers.
Under the experience tab on his LinkedIn bio, Unsworth held the title of Vice President of Writing for two years, beginning in 2021 and ending in 2023.
BREAKING:
Vice President of writing at Rockstar Games Michael Unsworth appears to have left the company after 16 years, at least according to his LinkedIn.
He's most notable for writing both Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption II, Grand Theft Auto IV & V, Max Payne 3,… pic.twitter.com/ntR7qQznvN
— SWEGTA (@SWEGTA) August 26, 2023
Unsworth is known for writing across a range of Rockstar’s biggest AAA titles, including Red Dead Redemption and its later sequel, Grand Theft Auto IV & V, Max Payne and LA Noire. He previously held the positions of Senior Creative Writer between 2007 and 2019 before transitioning to Writing Director for two years through 2019 to 2021.
Rockstar has yet to make an official statement regarding Unsworth’s departure, so if the news is true, we should expect a confirmation quite soon. Earlier in the week, it was revealed that the 18-year-old hacker connected to the GTA 6 leak was caught out in a Travelodge hotel following a hacking spree against top tech firms.
Take-Two Interactive recently responded to the backlash following the reveal of a PS4 and Switch port for the original Red Dead Redemption. The port, developed by Double Eleven, will offer players on older-gen consoles to experience Red Dead Redemption on newer consoles.
