Rockstar Games
 | |
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Video games |
| Predecessor | BMG Interactive |
| Founded | December 1998 |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York, United States |
| Coordinates | 40°43′33″N 73°59′45″W / 40.725736°N 73.995968°WCoordinates: 40°43′33″N 73°59′45″W / 40.725736°N 73.995968°W |
Key people |
Sam Houser (President) Dan Houser (Vice president) |
Number of employees | 900 (Structure)[1] |
| Parent | Take-Two Interactive |
| Website |
www |
Rockstar Games is a multinational video game developer and publisher best known for their Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead, Midnight Club, Max Payne, Bully, and Manhunt games.
Based in New York City, it is owned by Take-Two Interactive following its purchase of British video game publisher BMG Interactive from Bertelsmann AG.[2] While some 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 Take-Two's 2K Games division.
History
The Rockstar Games label was founded in December 1998[3][4][5] by the British video game producers Terry Donovan, Sam Houser, Dan Houser, Jamie King and Gary Foreman.[6][7] Donovan left the company in January 2007, following a four-month leave of absence.[8] He was replaced by former Capcom managing director, Gary Dale.[9]
The main headquarters of Rockstar Games (commonly referred to as Rockstar NYC)[10] is located on Broadway in the NoHo neighborhood of New York City, part of the Take-Two Interactive offices. It is home to the marketing, public relations and product development departments.[11]
As of February 2014, Rockstar Games titles have shipped more than 250 million copies, the largest franchise being the Grand Theft Auto series which alone has shipments of at least 220 million as of September 2015.[12][13]
In March 2014, Rockstar Games received the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award at the British Academy Video Games Awards.
Company philosophy
Despite their status as creators on Grand Theft Auto and one of the most successful video game franchises of all-time, Sam Houser and his brother Dan have shied away from the spotlight. They have focused on the Rockstar Games brand, rather than any one person getting the credit for the games' success.[14]
In October 2011, Rockstar creative vice-president Dan Houser told Famitsu that Rockstar was intentionally avoiding developing in the first-person shooter genre. "We're deliberately avoiding that right now", he said, according to a 1UP.com translation. "It's in our DNA to avoid doing what other companies are doing. I suppose you could say that Max Payne 3 is something close to an FPS, but there are really unique aspects to the setting and gameplay there, too, not just in the story. You have to have originality in your games; you have to have some kind of interesting message. You could say that the goalpoint of Rockstar is to have the players really feel what we're trying to do". Houser went on to say that Rockstar has "made new genres by ourselves with games like the GTA series. We didn't rely on testimonials in a business textbook to do what we've done. I think we succeeded precisely because we didn't concentrate on profit... If we make the sort of games we want to play, then we believe people are going to buy them."[15]
Rockstar has since released an enhanced remake of Grand Theft Auto V for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which can be fully played from the first-person perspective.[16] This was made possible in part with higher quality firearm visuals, hindered audio-visual stimuli due to headgear, and additional animations - helping the game achieve aesthetic parity with other first-person shooters.[16]
Video games published
| Title | Release year(s) | Developer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Grand Theft Auto series | 1997–present | Rockstar North[lower-alpha 1] (main titles) Digital Eclipse (Advance) Rockstar Leeds (Stories and Chinatown Wars) |
| Smuggler's Run series | 2000–2002 | Rockstar San Diego[lower-alpha 2] Rebellion Developments (GBA version of Smuggler's Run) |
| Midnight Club series | 2000–2008 | Rockstar San Diego Rebellion Developments (GBA version of Street Racing) Rockstar Leeds (PSP version of Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition) Rockstar London (PSP version of Los Angeles) |
| Oni | 2001 | Bungie (PC version) Rockstar Toronto (PS2 version) |
| Max Payne series | 2001–present | Remedy Entertainment (Max Payne and Max Payne 2) Rockstar Studios[lower-alpha 3] (Max Payne 3) |
| Manhunt series | 2003–2007 | Rockstar North (Manhunt) Rockstar London[lower-alpha 4] (PC and PS2 versions of Manhunt 2) Rockstar Leeds (PSP version of Manhunt 2) Rockstar Toronto (Wii version of Manhunt 2) |
| Red Dead series | 2004–present | Rockstar San Diego |
| The Warriors | 2005 | Rockstar Toronto (PS2 and Xbox versions) Rockstar Leeds (PSP version) |
| Bully | 2006 | Rockstar Vancouver Rockstar New England (Scholarship Edition) |
| Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis | 2006 | Rockstar San Diego |
| Beaterator | 2009 | Rockstar Leeds |
| L.A. Noire | 2011 | Team Bondi |
External developers and publisher
- Capcom had early development in Red Dead Revolver and previously owned the Japanese distribution rights to the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
- Bungie West developed the game Oni for Windows and Macintosh, which was then ported by Rockstar to the PS2 and published by them. Before Bungie was bought by Microsoft, their breakthrough product, Halo, was planned for release on video game consoles with Rockstar as publisher.[18]
- The Smuggler's Run games developed by Angel Studios (later Rockstar San Diego) are published by Rockstar.
- Remedy Entertainment developed Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.
- Team Bondi an Australian independent gaming developer who developed L.A. Noire with Rockstar.
- Edge of Reality developed Monster Truck Madness 64, first published by Microsoft and later by Rockstar.
- Rockstar was the publisher of The Italian Job video game.
- Wild Metal Country published by Gremlin Interactive and later by Rockstar.
- Z-Axis developed Thrasher presents Skate and Destroy and Rockstar published it.
- VIS Entertainment in collaboration with Dubtitled Entertainment is known for developing the first State of Emergency game which was Rockstar published.
- Digital Eclipse Software collaborated with Rockstar North while developing Grand Theft Auto Advance.
- War Drum Studios ported a number of Rockstar titles to mobile platforms such as Grand Theft Auto III,[19] Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Max Payne.[20] They also ported Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas to the Xbox 360.
- Image Metrics has done most of the facial animation in many of Rockstar's games.
Films
| Films | Release | Genre | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Football Factory1 | 2004 | Drama | ||||||||
| Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Introduction | 2004 | Crime drama | ||||||||
| Sunday Driver1 | 2005 | Documentary | ||||||||
| Red Dead Redemption: The Man from Blackwater | 2010 | Western drama | ||||||||
Notes
| ||||||||||
In 2011, Rockstar Games trademarked Rockstar Films.[21]
Structure
Current studios
| Logo | Name | Location | Years as Rockstar division | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Rockstar North | Edinburgh, Scotland | 1999–present | Founded in 1987 as DMA Design and subsequently acquired in 1999,[22] they are famous for the Grand Theft Auto, and Manhunt franchises, as well as the original Lemmings games as DMA Design. |
 | Rockstar San Diego | Carlsbad, California | 2003–present | As part of Rockstar they developed the RAGE engine, Rockstar's Table Tennis, the Midnight Club series, both Red Dead Revolver and Red Dead Redemption. |
 | Rockstar Toronto | Oakville, Ontario | 1999–present | Their most well-known work is The Warriors, an adaptation of the cult classic film and the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City. |
 | Rockstar Leeds | Leeds, England | 2004–present | They created Chinatown Wars, Beaterator, Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories. Ported Max Payne to the Game Boy Advance and L.A. Noire to Microsoft Windows. |
 | Rockstar Lincoln | Lincoln, England | 1999–present | Quality assurance and localisation. |
 | Rockstar London | London, England | 2005–present | Formed in November 2005 for the development of Manhunt 2. Responsible for the portable adaptation of Midnight Club: Los Angeles. |
 | Rockstar New England | Andover, Massachusetts | 2008–present | Responsible for the Wii, Xbox 360, PC ports of Bully.[23] |
Former studios
| Logo | Name | Location | Years as Rockstar division | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Rockstar Vancouver | Vancouver, British Columbia | 2002–2012 | Merged with Rockstar Toronto in 2012. Responsible for the PlayStation 2 title Bully and the third game in the Max Payne series, Max Payne 3.[24] |
 | Rockstar Japan | Tokyo, Japan | 2005 | Formally a label created between Rockstar and Capcom, who previously held exclusive distribution rights to the Grand Theft Auto series in Japan. |
 | Rockstar Vienna | Vienna, Austria | 2003–2006 | They ported the Max Payne series to consoles, and created some of Manhunt 2 before being closed down.[25] |
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, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows, Mac[lower-alpha 5] and Wii systems.
Social Club
The Rockstar Games Social Club is an online gaming service created by Rockstar for use with their games.
References
- Notes
- ↑ First two main titles developed as DMA Design.
- ↑ As Angel Studios.
- ↑ Rockstar Studios is a collaborative effort between Rockstar Vancouver, Rockstar London, Rockstar Toronto, Rockstar New England, Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar Leeds, Rockstar North, Rockstar NYC and Rockstar Lincoln.[17]
- ↑ Rockstar Vienna started developing Manhunt 2 for PC and PS2 until the studio's closure in 2006, then the videogame moved to Rockstar London.
- ↑ The OSX version of Max Payne 3 uses TransGaming's Cider compatibility layer and does not run natively on OSX.
- Footnotes
- ↑ British Academy of Film and Television Arts (March 12, 2014). "Fellowship in 2014 – Rockstar Games". YouTube. Retrieved March 13, 2014.
- ↑ "Rockstar Games Multimedia Designers". Retrieved March 24, 2013.
- ↑ "Rockstar Games / - Design/Designer Information". Design Museum. September 20, 2014. Archived from the original on September 20, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
- ↑ "Develop". Develop (magazine). August 15, 2008. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
- ↑ "Rockstar Games Corporate Info". Retrieved March 24, 2013.
- ↑ "GTA, Rockstar co-founding brothers squeeze into Britain's 1,000 richest people list with £90 million". GameSpot.
- ↑ Laura Avery (2005). Newsmakers: the people behind today's headlines: 2004 cumulation. Gale Research. p. 212.
- ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (January 12, 2007). "Terry Donovan leaves Rockstar". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
- ↑ "Capcom exec leaves to join Rockstar". GameSpot.
- ↑ "Rockstar NYC Job openings". Rockstar Games. Retrieved April 5, 2013.
- ↑ "Rockstar Studios Information". Rockstar Universe. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
- ↑ "Rockstar titles have now shipped 250 million copies to date". GameSpot. February 4, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
- ↑ "Grand Theft Auto Series Passes 220 Million Sales Worldwide". GameSpot. August 21, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
- ↑ Ryan P. (May 18, 2012). "Gaming Gods: Dan and Sam Houser". The Gamer's Hub. Retrieved March 19, 2013.
- ↑ Ivan, Tom. "Rockstar 'deliberately avoiding' FPS genre". ComputerAndVideoGames.
- 1 2 Krupa, Daniel (November 4, 2014). "Grand Theft Auto 5: A New Perspective". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
- ↑ Rockstar Studios (May 15, 2012). Max Payne 3. PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Rockstar Games. Level/area: Credits.
- ↑ "Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. to Acquire 19.9% Interest in Bungie Software Products Corporation.". Take-Two Interactive Software.
- ↑ "Grand Theft Auto 3 for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store". Apple Inc. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
- ↑ "PSA: Max Payne Mobile now available". Joystiq. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
- ↑ McElroy, Justin. "Report: Rockstar Films trademarked by Rockstar Games". Joystiq.
- ↑ "Take-Two Interactive Buys DMA Design for $11m.". Computergram International – via HighBeam (subscription required) . September 30, 1999. Retrieved September 18, 2015.
- ↑ "Rockstar Acquires Mad Doc Software". RockstarWatch. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
- ↑ Jared Linwood (July 9, 2012). "Rockstar Vancouver merges with Rockstar Toronto and expands". RockstarWatch. Retrieved July 9, 2012.
- ↑ Jurie Horneman (May 11, 2006). "Rockstar Vienna closes its doors". Intelligent Artifice. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
External links
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