Take-Two has succeeded with Mr. Houser thus far by letting him run an independent unit, called Rockstar Games. It hasn't been easy, but the arrangement has given the company unusual clout in the videogame world.
According to analysts' estimates, Microsoft Corp. paid Rockstar $50 million to create two downloadable "episodes" that expand the story of Grand Theft Auto IV. Rockstar also agreed to release GTA IV for Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console at the same time as the version for Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 -- a potentially big boost for Microsoft.
Current and former employees say Rockstar's executives -- including Sam and his brother Dan Houser, Rockstar's vice president of creative -- are mercurial, prone to screaming, insisting on marathon work hours and rarely dispensing praise. Parent Take-Two has also had troubles. Last year, several executives got caught up in the options backdating scandal. Steady churn in upper management has left quirky, insular Rockstar without close supervision for much of its life, analysts say. All that could be problematic for EA.
"These are the kids on the island in 'Lord of the Flies,' " says Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities. "Are they manageable? No one knows."
EA declined to comment about any plans for Rockstar, a division with roughly 800 employees world-wide. Since he became CEO at EA last year, John Riccitiello has said he hopes to encourage more creative risk-taking by giving game makers more autonomy within independent "labels" at the company, a structure in which the eccentricities of Rockstar might find a suitable home.
Albeit a very different home. EA in recent years has released mature-themed titles, but its specialties are sports games and family-friendly fare like the Sims role-playing franchise.
Rockstar is known for boundary-pushing games, including some that vividly indulge vengeful fantasies. Last year Rockstar modified Manhunt 2, a gruesome horror game, after it received an adults-only classification in the U.S. The new Grand Theft Auto IV has been criticized in the media for scenes that allow players to pay prostitutes for sex. Mothers Against Drunk Driving has attacked the game, which allows characters to drink and drive. Rockstar has said the sex and drunk-driving scenes in GTA IV are logical elements of the world inhabited by its characters.
SCORSESE OF GAMES
Winning Bet: Grand Theft Auto IV cost more to make than most Hollywood films and is paying off big.
Man Behind the Mayhem: Sam Houser is the driving force behind GTA's creator, Rockstar Games.
The $2 Billion Question: Can Mr. Houser thrive at Electronic Arts if the publisher succeeds in a hostile takeover bid?
The "talent" at Rockstar, as they're called internally, make star-caliber money and might find EA's more traditional pay structure jarring. In 2005, a particularly strong year, Take-Two paid royalties of $84 million, according to company filings. The bulk of funds, say people familiar with the matter, went to Mr. Houser and other Rockstar executives. If EA succeeds in acquiring Take-Two, some analysts believe EA's star developers might demand a bigger share of game proceeds.
Another possible kink: Rockstar's history of autonomy. If EA ends up with Take-Two, Mr. Houser says it's unlikely that he would go so far as to seek EA's approval for game content. Still, he calls Mr. Riccitiello "the real deal" and sees some appeal in an EA alliance, which he says would make Rockstar a "much smaller fish in much bigger pond."
"I'm not someone who has any kind of problem with that," says Mr. Houser, who says EA turned him down for a job in the late 1990s.
The DNA of Rockstar traces to Mr. Houser, a British-born pop-culture aficionado. He remains close to his parents and to his brother Dan. Their father, Walter, is a lawyer who was part-owner of a well-known London nightclub, Ronnie Scott's, where young Sam met jazz legends. When trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie asked the boy what he wanted to be when he grew up, Mr. Houser says he replied, "a bank robber!"
In 1999, he established the Rockstar group at Take-Two. He modeled the unit, which he calls a "label," after DefJam records, the pioneering hip-hop record label that launched the careers of Run DMC and the Beastie Boys. He wanted the Rockstar brand to connote a certain coolness to consumers.
Both Houser brothers have strong tempers, people who have worked with them say. When game-industry publications give less-than-stellar ratings to Rockstar titles, say former employees, Sam has his staff to "go war" with offending publications to demand a better review or score.
Mr. Houser denies using those words, but says he has often felt the sentiment they imply. "That's an area I've grown up in, definitely," he says.
