From GTA to the Internet of Things: What Lazlow Jones Did Next

ign.com:

“I can't avoid the internet of things now while we're doing this interview,” Lazlow Jones tells me, picking up his phone. He’s sitting in his home office in California speaking to a reporter half the world away on the south coast of England, explaining what his new venture — his Absurd Ventures — is all about. And it’s all about the internet of things. Of course, I learn this in an interview that wouldn’t be possible without the internet of things.

“My cat took a shit, and I know that because I have a litter robot that sends me a text message whenever he goes to the bathroom,” Lazlow continues, putting the world to rights from the bottom half of my laptop screen.

One of the characters in audio science fiction series A Better Paradise, called NigelDave (yes, all one word, more on him later) is also trying to "solve" the problem that is humanity, but he's using the internet of things to do it. Probably not the best idea.

But that is what A Better Paradise and, it seems, much of what Absurd Ventures is all about. And it is a lot. There’s this audio series, yes, but also a graphic novel set within an entirely different universe, called American Caper. Then there’s the mystery video game — let’s be real here, the video game is the main event — that has already sparked enthusiastic headlines based on job adverts that suggest what sort of video game Absurd Ventures is trying to make.

It’s hard not to get excited when you read about former Rockstar developers who are working on an "open-world action-adventure game." Lazlow doesn’t want anyone thinking Absurd Ventures is taking Rockstar on at its own game with some sort of Grand Theft Auto or Red Dead Redemption competitor. Of course he doesn't — those games cost hundreds of millions to make and take years and years to put together. But then, these aren't just any former Rockstar developers.

Let’s start with Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser, who left the company — and his brother Sam — back in 2020. This is the Dan Houser, the