Rockstar Games is a video game developer and publisher based in New York City, owned by Take-Two Interactive. The brand is mostly known for the Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, Midnight Club and now the Red Dead series and the use of open world, free roaming settings in their games. It comprises studios that have been acquired and renamed as well as others that have been created internally. While many of the studios Take-Two Interactive has acquired have been merged into the Rockstar brand, several other recent ones have retained their previous identities and have become part of the company's 2K Games division. The Rockstar Games label was founded in New York City in 1998 by the British video game producers Sam Houser, Dan Houser, Terry Donovan, Jamie King and Gary Foreman.[Laura Avery (2005). Newsmakers: the people behind today's headlines :2004 cumulation. p. 212. Gale Research, 2005.]
The Headquarters of Rockstar Games is located on Broadway in the SoHo neighborhood of New York City, part of the Take-Two Interactive offices. It is the head office of Rockstar's worldwide publishing enterprises. It is home to the marketing, public relations and product development departments.
Technology
RAGE
Rockstar Games have developed their own game engine called the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) to facilitate game development on the
PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360,
Windows, and
Wii systems.
Social Club
The
Rockstar Games Social Club is a community website created by Rockstar for their most recent games.
Rockstar studios
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! width=15% | Name
! width=8% | Years as Rockstar division
! Notes
|-
|
Rockstar Japan || 2005–present || Japanese localization studio, in which they work in conjunction with
Capcom.
|-
|
Rockstar Leeds || 2004–present || Previously known as Mobius Entertainment and based in
Lower Wortley,
Leeds. They created
and
for the
PlayStation Portable,
Max Payne for the
Game Boy Advance and recently finished developing
and the music game
Beaterator.
|-
|
Rockstar Lincoln || 1999–present || Quality assurance and localization studio based in
Lincoln,
England, previously known as Tarantula Studios.
|-
|
Rockstar London || 2005–present || Formed in November 2005. Took over development of
Manhunt 2 after Rockstar Vienna had been closed and recently developed the portable adaptation of .
|-
|
Rockstar New England || 2008–present || Acquired on April 4, 2008, this studio is based in
Andover, Massachusetts and was previously known as Mad Doc Software. They developed the Xbox 360 and PC ports of
Bully.
|-
|
Rockstar North || 1999–present || Founded in 1988, Rockstar North is based in
Edinburgh,
Scotland, and was previously known as DMA Design. They are famous for the
Grand Theft Auto and
Manhunt franchises, as well as the original
Lemmings games.
|-
|
Rockstar San Diego || 2003–present || Previously known as Angel Studios, they developed the
RAGE engine,
Red Dead Revolver and
Red Dead Redemption, the
Smuggler's Run series, the first two
Midtown Madness games and the
Midnight Club series.
|-
|
Rockstar Toronto || 1999–present || Take Two's in-house development team, previously known as Rockstar Canada. Their most well-known work is their
adaptation of the cult classic film
The Warriors and the PC and PS3 port of GTA: Episodes from Liberty City.
|-
|
Rockstar Vancouver || 2002–present || Previously known as Barking Dog Studios, they created the
PlayStation 2 title
Bully and are currently developing the third game in the
Max Payne series,
Max Payne 3.
|-
|
Rockstar Vienna || 2003–2006 || Previously known as Neo Software; closed on May 11, 2006. They ported the
Max Payne series to consoles, and created most of
Manhunt 2 before being closed down.
|}
External developers
Bungie developed the game Oni, which was published by Rockstar on the PS2. Before Bungie was bought by Microsoft, their breakthrough product, , was planned for release on Mac and PC with Rockstar as publisher.
Capcom had early development in Rockstar San Diego's Red Dead Revolver and currently owns the Japanese distribution rights to the Grand Theft Auto series.
Digital Eclipse Software collaborated with Rockstar North while developing Grand Theft Auto Advance.
Edge of Reality developed Monster Truck Madness 64.
Opus, in collaboration with ASCII Entertainment developed Surfing H3O.
Remedy Entertainment developed the Max Payne series.
Team Bondi an Australian independent gaming developer currently developing L.A. Noire with Rockstar.
VIS Entertainment is known for developing the State of Emergency game.
Z-Axis developed .
has done most of the facial animation in most of Rockstar's games.
Games Published
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Game !! Release !! Format
|-
|
Grand Theft Auto3 || 1997 ||
PlayStation,
Microsoft Windows,
Game Boy Color1
|-
|
3 || 1999 ||
Microsoft Windows,
PlayStation
|-
|
|| 1999 ||
Microsoft Windows
|-
|
Grand Theft Auto 2 || 1999 ||
Microsoft Windows,
PlayStation,
Dreamcast,
Game Boy Color
|-
|
Earthworm Jim 3D || 1999 ||
Nintendo 642
|-
|
Evel Knievel || 1999 ||
Game Boy Color
|-
|
|| 1999 ||
PlayStation
|-
|
Austin Powers: Oh Behave || 2000 ||
Game Boy Color
|-
|
|| 2000 ||
Game Boy Color
|-
|
Wild Metal: Reclaim the Future || 2000 ||
Dreamcast4
|-
|
|| 2000 ||
PlayStation 2
|-
|
Surfing H3O || 2000 ||
PlayStation 2
|-
|
Smuggler's Run || 2000 ||
PlayStation 2
|-
|
Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory || 2001 ||
PlayStation 2
|-
|
Oni || 2001 ||
PlayStation 25
|-
|
Max Payne || 2001 ||
PlayStation 2,
Xbox,
Game Boy Advance5
|-
|
Grand Theft Auto III || 2001 ||
PlayStation 2,
Xbox,
Microsoft Windows,
Mac OS X
|-
|
The Italian Job6 || 2002 ||
PlayStation,
Microsoft Windows
|-
|
State of Emergency || 2002 ||
PlayStation 2,
Xbox,
Microsoft Windows
|-
|
|| 2002 ||
Nintendo GameCube
|-
|
|| 2002 ||
PlayStation 2,
Xbox,
Microsoft Windows,
Mac OS X
|-
|
Midnight Club II || 2003 ||
PlayStation 2,
Xbox,
Microsoft Windows
|-
|
|| 2003 ||
PlayStation 2,
Xbox,
Microsoft Windows
|-
|
Manhunt || 2003 ||
PlayStation 2,
Xbox,
Microsoft Windows
|-
|
Red Dead Revolver || 2004 ||
PlayStation 2,
Xbox
|-
|
Grand Theft Auto Advance || 2004 ||
Game Boy Advance
|-
|
|| 2004 ||
PlayStation 2,
Xbox,
Microsoft Windows,
Mac OS X
|-
|
|| 2005 ||
PlayStation 2,
Xbox,
PlayStation Portable
|-
|
The Warriors || 2005 ||
PlayStation 2,
Xbox,
PlayStation Portable
|-
|
|| 2005 ||
PlayStation Portable,
PlayStation 2
|-
|
|| 2006 ||
PlayStation 2,
Xbox
|-
|
Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis || 2006 ||
Xbox 360,
Wii
|-
|
Bully (aka
Canis Canem Edit) || 2006 ||
PlayStation 2
|-
|
|| 2006 ||
PlayStation Portable,
PlayStation 2
|-
|
Manhunt 2 || 2007 ||
PlayStation Portable,
PlayStation 2,
Wii,
Microsoft Windows
|-
|
|| 2008 ||
Xbox 360,
Wii,
Microsoft Windows
|-
|
Grand Theft Auto IV || 2008 ||
PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360,
Microsoft Windows
|-
|
|| 2008 ||
PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360
|-
|
|| 2008 ||
PlayStation Portable
|-
|
|| 2009 ||
PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360,
Microsoft Windows
|-
|
|| 2009 ||
Nintendo DS,
PlayStation Portable,
iOS,
Zune
|-
|
Beaterator || 2009 ||
PlayStation Portable,
iOS
|-
|
|| 2009 ||
PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360,
Microsoft Windows
|-
|
8 || 2009 ||
PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360,
Microsoft Windows
|-
|
Red Dead Redemption || 2010 ||
PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360
|-
|
|| 2010 ||
PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360
|-
|
L.A. Noire9 || 2011 ||
PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360
|-
|
Max Payne 39 || 2011 ||
PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360,
Microsoft Windows
|-
|
Agent9 || TBA ||
PlayStation 3
|-
|-
|colspan=11 style="font-size:90%" bgcolor=#FFFFFF |
Notes:
# The DOS/Windows and PlayStation versions were produced by DMA Design, prior to it becoming
Rockstar North, and published by
BMG Interactive in Europe and by
ASC Games in North America in 1997.
# The PC version and PAL Nintendo 64 version was released by
Interplay Entertainment whilst only the US Nintendo 64 version was released by Rockstar.
# The games were re-released by Rockstar Games in a three game CD compilation dubbed
Grand Theft Auto: The Classics Collection on November 23, 2004.
# The Windows version was published by
Gremlin Interactive in 1999.
# The Windows version was published by
Gathering of Developers in 2001.
# It was based on
The Italian Job (1969 film), which is not to be confused with the
2003 video game which was released by
Eidos Interactive which is based on the 2003 film
The Italian Job. Released first in the
PAL region in 2001 for the
PlayStation.
# The Windows version was published by
Gathering of Developers in 2001; The Mac version was published by
MacSoft in 2002.
# A standalone compilation of the
downloadable content (DLC) episodes for the 2008 video game
Grand Theft Auto IV, containing both
The Lost and Damned and
The Ballad of Gay Tony on one disc.
# These games are in development.
|}
Films
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Films
1 !! Release !! Genre
|-
|
The Football Factory || 2004 ||
Drama
|-
|
Sunday Driver || 2005 ||
Documentary
|-
| colspan=11 style="font-size:90%" bgcolor=#FFFFFF |
Notes
# Rockstar Games is credited as executive producers.
|}
References
External links
Rockstar Games
RockstarWatch
RockstarBase
Rockstar Source
Studios
Rockstar Japan
Rockstar Leeds
Rockstar Lincoln
Rockstar London
Rockstar New England
Rockstar North
Rockstar San Diego
Rockstar Toronto
Rockstar Vancouver
Category:Companies established in 1998
Category:Video game companies of the United States
Category:Video game developers
Category:Companies based in New York City
![Game With Rockstar Games on Xbox Live - December 17th [Match #6]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110311131518im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/-8he2jCwuxY/0.jpg "Game With Rockstar Games on Xbox Live - December 17th [Match #6]")
