The co-founder and lead writer of Grand Theft Auto giant Rockstar Games Dan Houser is going to be departing the company next month.

The news was announced by parent company Take-Two, which revealed that the studio vice president was going to be leaving on March 11th, 2020. This follows an "extended break" that Houser has been on since spring of last year.

Within ten minutes of the news being broken, Take-Two's stock had dipped seven per cent in value from $126.93 per share to $118.02 in NASDAQ after-hours trading.

Houser helped co-founder Rockstar Games in 1998 after the Take-Two bought BMG Interactive, where he worked at the time. He has since involved in the production and writing process of nearly all of the company's titles, including the Grand Theft Auto series, cult classic Bully and Red Dead Redemption.

"After an extended break beginning in the spring of 2019, Dan Houser, vice president of creative at Rockstar Games, will be leaving the company," Take-Two wrote.

"Dan Houser’s last day will be March 11th, 2020. We are extremely grateful for his contributions. Rockstar Games has built some of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful game worlds, a global community of passionate fans and an incredibly talented team, which remains focused on current and future projects."