The creative force behind the Grand Theft Auto video games, Dan Houser, will leave next month the Rockstar Games firm he cofounded, its parent company said.

Houser produced and helped write the GTA games, one of the most lucrative video game titles ever, and made a succuss of the Rockstar Games studio he built with his brother.

GTA 6 is expected to be published by the end of the year when the next generation game consoles PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are released.

"After an extended break beginning in the spring of 2019, Dan Houser, Vice President, Creative at Rockstar Games, will be leaving the company," Take Two said in a statement late Tuesday to US market regulators.

It said Houser's last day of work would be on March 11 at the studio that is also known for the game Red Dead Redemption.

After the release of Rockstar Games' last title Houser stirred controversy by speaking out about working conditions in the studio and the video game publishing industry at large by saying that certain developers had worked as many as 100 hours per week to meet the release date.

Take Two's shares were down 3.6 percent in midday trading while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 0.24 percent overall.

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