Rockstar's Housers in MediaGuardian 100

Brothers Sam and Dan Houser, the founders of Grand Theft Auto maker Rockstar, have climbed The Guardian's annual list of the 100 "most powerful people in television, radio, newspapers, magazines, digital media, media business, advertising, marketing and PR".

MediaGuardian 2011 ranked the Houser brothers 27th - one place higher than in 2010.

MediaGuardian credits the Housers with having had "the biggest and most influential video game release of the year": L.A. Noire.

"Rockstar raised the bar with its Grand Theft Auto series and Red Dead Redemption, defining a new era of sprawling open-world adventures. With L.A. Noire, inspired by Raymond Chandler and LA Confidential, it has done it again," claimed MediaGuardian.

Sam and Dan Houser finished above Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, chef Jamie Oliver and Lord Sugar. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg topped the list.

Whereas Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption were internally developed Rockstar titles, L.A. Noire was created by Australian independent studio Team Bondi. Rockstar signed as the publisher in 2006.

L.A. Noire has attracted a wealth of coverage from both specialist and mainstream press. And not all of it has been good.

Allegations of unfair working practices have been rife, as former Team Bondi staff incensed by exclusion from the game's credits blew the whistle on conditions at the studio.

The Housers may have had high profile success with L.A. Noire, then, but former staff claim Rockstar will never work with Team Bondi again.

Eurogamer's L.A. Noire review awarded 8/10.