Rockstar Vienna
 | |
| Subsidiary of Rockstar Games | |
| Industry | Game development |
| Fate | Closed, Properties sold |
| Successor |
Games That Matter Productions GmbH/Deep Silver Vienna Rockstar London (continued Manhunt 2) |
| Founded | 4 January 1993 |
| Defunct | 11 May 2006 |
| Headquarters | Vienna, Austria |
| Owner | Take-Two Interactive |
Number of employees | 100 |
| Parent | Rockstar Games |
Rockstar Vienna (formerly neo Software Produktions GmbH) was a Vienna, Austria-based developer of video games, and a sub-division of Rockstar Games. Rockstar Vienna was founded on 4 January 1993 by Niki Laber and Hannes Seifert, joined Take-Two Interactive in February 2001, and was announced to join Rockstar Games during the tenth anniversary of the company in 2003.[1] As of 2005, the company claimed to employ an estimated 100 people.[1] It closed on 11 May 2006.
History
Prior to the 2003 acquisition of the company, Rockstar Vienna had developed several personal computer games, especially for the Commodore Amiga computer but after 1996 only for PC: Whale's Voyage (1993), Der Clou! (1994), Rent-a-Hero (1999), Alien Nations (2000) and The Sting! (2001). Rockstar releases include console ports of titles developed by other subsidiaries of Rockstar Games, including Max Payne for the Xbox (2001), Max Payne 2 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox (2003), and the Grand Theft Auto: Double Pack (containing Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City) for the Xbox (2003).
Closure
On 11 May 2006, Take-Two Interactive closed the Rockstar Vienna office without prior announcement; and employees were denied access to their workplace by security personnel in the morning.[2]
Deep Silver Vienna
On 17 January 2007, the founders of Rockstar Vienna announced the formation of their new company Games That Matter Productions GmbH.[3] However, this was short lived as Deep Silver announced that it had acquired the studio on 22 August 2007 and was rebranded Deep Silver Vienna.
In 2010, Deep Silver Vienna closed down. "This decision is not easy for us... the current overall economic situation" incompletely said managing director Kundratitz Clement of Koch Media (company that owns Deep Silver) .The studio's two co-founders, formerly of Rockstar Vienna, had already left. Niki Laber departed in December 2009, while Hannes Seifert went on to join Square Enix as creative director.
Games
as neo Software
- Whale's Voyage (1993) Amiga, CD32 (With Flair Software)
- The Clue! (1994) Amiga, CD32
- Whale's Voyage II (1995) Amiga
- Cedric and the Lost Sceptre (1995) Amiga, CD32 (with Alcatraz Austria)
- Fightin' Spirit (1996) Amiga, CD32 (with Lightshock Software)
- Black Viper (1996) Amiga, CD32 (with Lightshock Software)
- Spherical Worlds (1996) Amiga, CD32 (with 4matted)
- Alien Nations (1999) PC (with JoWooD Entertainment)
- The Sting! (2001) PC (with JoWooD Entertainment)
- Max Payne (2001) (Xbox) (with Remedy Entertainment)
as Rockstar Vienna
- Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003) (Xbox, PS2) (with Remedy Entertainment)
- Grand Theft Auto III (2003) (Xbox) (with Rockstar North)
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2003) (Xbox) (with Rockstar North)
- Manhunt 2 (2004-2006) (PS2, Xbox) (with Rockstar North, Rockstar London, Rockstar Leeds, and Rockstar Toronto) Upon closure of the studio, the game moved to Rockstar London.
References
- 1 2 "Rap Sheet - Rockstar Vienna". MobyGames. Retrieved 23 May 2006.
- ↑ "100 Rockstar Vienna Devs Fired". Archived from the original on 2013-06-06.
- ↑ "Games That Matter announced".
External links
- Rockstar Vienna at MobyGames.
- GamesIndustry.biz: "Rockstar officially confirms closure of Vienna studio". (Registration Required)
- Jurie Horneman's comments of Rockstar Vienna's closure.
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