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November 30, 2004

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Rockstar Games
RockstarGames
Name: Rockstar Games
Type: Subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive
Industry: Computer and video games
Interactive entertainment
Founded: 1998
Headquarters: New York City, New York, United States
Products: Grand Theft Auto
Midnight Club
Manhunt
Max Payne
Red Dead
Bully
L.A. Noire
The Warriors
State of Emergency
Smuggler's Run
Owner(s): Take-Two Interactive
Parent: Take-Two Interactive
Website: www.rockstargames.com

Rockstar Games is a video game developer and publisher and a development division of video game publisher Take-Two Interactive based in New York City, owned by Take-Two Interactive. The brand is most known for the Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A. Noire, The Warriors, Bully, Manhunt, Midnight Club and Red Dead series. It is comprised of studios that have been acquired and renamed as well as others that have been created internally. While many of the studios that Take-Two 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 brand is mostly known for Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A. Noire, The Warriors, Bully, Manhunt, Midnight Club and Red Dead series and the use of open world, free roaming settings in their games.

The Rockstar Games label was founded in 1998 by Sam Houser, Terry Donovan, Dan Houser, Jamie King and Gary Foreman. Donovan has since left the company, to be replaced by former Capcom managing director, Gary Dale. Dale, along with Sam and Dan Houser is the leadership now.

It comprises studios that have been acquired and renamed as well as others that have been created internally.

Rockstar studios[]

Rockstar North

Main article: Rockstar North

Rockstar North Limited (formerly DMA Design Limited) is a developer of computer and video games located in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company is a part of Rockstar Games which is owned by Take Two Interactive. It is the primary developer of the GTA series. Rockstar North is Rockstar Games' most experienced production company, with a total of 33 games produced under the DMA Design or Rockstar North banner.

Rockstar San Diego

Main article: Rockstar San Diego

Rockstar San Diego (formerly Angel Studios) is one of the development studios in Rockstar Games. In the beginning, they first made some games for the Nintendo Entertainment System using the Super Sentai licence.


Rockstar Turkey rockstar games turkey is the founder of the game company gta and red dead redemption 2 and bully scholarship edition midnight club in turkey gta turk city is the founder of the company in denizli.

Rockstar Lincoln

Main article: Rockstar Lincoln

Rockstar Lincoln (formerly Tarantula Studios) is Rockstar Games' dedicated quality assurance and software localisation studio, responsible for game testing and translating games developed by Rockstar. They ported the very first GTA games onto video game consoles.

Rockstar London

Main article: Rockstar London

Rockstar London is the European publishing headquarters of Rockstar Games, setting up a new development studio in London.

Rockstar Vancouver

Main article: Rockstar Vancouver

Rockstar Vancouver, formerly known as Barking Dog Studios, is a video game studio located in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1998 by several former employees of Radical Entertainment. It was renamed when Rockstar Games acquired Barking Dog Studios in 2002.

Rockstar Leeds

Main article: Rockstar Leeds

Rockstar Leeds was founded in 1997 by Gordon Hall, Jason McGann, Dave Box and Ian Bowden as Mobius Entertainment. In April 2004, publishing label Rockstar Games acquired the company, and rebranded it Rockstar Leeds.

Rockstar New England

Main article: Rockstar New England

The newest studio, founded in 2008. Formerly Mad Doc Software, They are best known for Empire Earth series. Currently Rockstar New England has developed no new games since they become part of Take-Two, but they will surely get to developing some in the near future.

Rockstar Toronto

Main article: Rockstar Toronto

Rockstar Toronto (formerly Rockstar Canada) is an in-house game development team for Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive, located in Oakville, Ontario, Canada, a town located approximately twenty minutes west of Toronto. The company was renamed Rockstar Toronto in 2002.

Rockstar Vienna

Main article: Rockstar Vienna

Rockstar Vienna (formerly neo Software Produktions GmbH) was a Vienna, Austria-based developer of computer and video games, and a sub-division of Rockstar Games. Rockstar Vienna was founded on January 4, 1993, joined Take-Two Interactive in February 2001, and was announced to join Rockstar Games during the tenth anniversary of the company in 2003. As of 2005, the company claimed to employ an estimated 100 people.[1]

Rockstar Los Angeles

Main article: Rockstar Los Angeles

Logo Name Notes
RockstarLeeds-Logo Rockstar Leeds Based in Leeds, England. Previously known as Mobius Entertainment and are based in the Stanningley district of Leeds. They helped create the three PSP GTA games and the PC version of L.A. Noire as well as Max Payne for the Game Boy Advance and the music game Beaterator.
Rockstar Lincoln Rockstar Lincoln Based in Lincoln, England. Quality assurance and localization studio, formerly Tarantula Studios. As Tarantula studios, the studio ported the early Grand Theft Auto games.
Rockstar London Logo Rockstar London Based in London, England. Formed in November 2005. Took over as the main developer for Manhunt 2 after the game's original developer Rockstar Vienna closed in 2006.
Rockstar New England logo Rockstar New England Based in Andover, Massachusetts. Formerly Mad Doc Software. Incorporated in 2008, they are the newest subsidiary of Rockstar, and are best known for Empire Earth III.
Rockstar North Logo Rockstar North Based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The best known Rockstar company. They were previously known as DMA Design. They are famous for their Grand Theft Auto series and Manhunt.
RockstarSanDiego Rockstar San Diego

Based in Carlsbad, California, a suburb of San Diego. Previously known as Angel Studios, they developed the RAGE engine as well as Midtown Madness, Midnight Club, Red Dead Revolver, and the newly released and critically acclaimed, Red Dead Redemption.

Rockstar Toronto Logo Rockstar Toronto Based in Oakville, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto. 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, the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City.
Rockstar Vancouver Logo Rockstar Vancouver Based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Previously known as Barking Dog Studios. They have released Bully. The studio closed in July 2012, where the remaining staff was transferred to Rockstar Toronto.
Rockstar Vienna Logo Rockstar Vienna Based in Vienna, Austria. Previously known as neo Software; closed on May 11, 2006. Worked on Max Payne and Max Payne 2 and the Grand Theft Auto: Double Pack as well the original developer for Manhunt 2.

Other companies that have developed for Rockstar Games[]

  • Bungie, of Halo fame, developed the game Oni. Before Bungie was bought by Microsoft, Halo was to be released on PC, Mac, PlayStation 2 and Sega Dreamcast, alongside the Xbox, with Rockstar as the game's publisher.
  • Capcom had early development in Rockstar San Diego's Red Dead Revolver and currently owns the publishing rights to the Grand Theft Auto series in Japan.
  • Dubtitled, in collaboration with Mic Neumann on State of Emergency and Grand Theft Auto series.
  • Digital Eclipse collaborated with Rockstar North on Grand Theft Auto Advance.
  • Edge of Reality developed Monster Truck Madness 64.
  • Opus, in collaboration with ASCII Entertainment developed Surfing H3O.
  • Pixelogic developed The Italian Job.
  • Remedy Entertainment developed the Max Payne games.
  • Team Bondi developed L.A. Noire for Rockstar.
  • VIS Entertainment is known for developing the State of Emergency game.
  • Z-Axis developed Thrasher presents Skate and Destroy.
  • Image Metrics has done most of the facial animations for Rockstar games like Grand Theft Auto and Bully.

Known Games[]

Main article: List of Rockstar Games

[]

Rockstar's logo consists of a black 'R' and a white star on a golden background. Rockstar Games has a habit of placing the logo within their games as a form of Easter Egg.

In Grand Theft Auto III[]

  • The logo appears on many billboards throughout Liberty City, particularly around the Liberty Memorial Coliseum and in Chinatown.
  • An advertisement in Bedford Point shows a coffee cup with the logo on it.
  • A male pedestrian in Portland can be seen wearing a blue cap with the Rockstar logo on it.
  • A female pedestrian that is commonly seen in Staunton Island wears a jacket that says "ROCK STAR" on the front.
  • On the inoperable helicopters in Francis International Airport.
  • The logo appears as a constellation in the sky, with an especially bright star at the tip to represent the white star of the logo.

In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City[]

File:RockstarPool-GTAVC-easteregg.jpg

A Rockstar-shaped pool

  • The door of Rockster Video Games bears the logo. The name "Rockster Video Games" is also a clear reference to the company.
  • The logo appears as a constellation in the sky, with an especially bright star at the tip to represent the white star of the logo.
  • A swimming pool on Starfish Island is shaped like the logo.
  • The clerk of the Ammu-Nation stores wears a jacket with the Rockstar logo on the front and the words "ROCK STAR" on the back.
  • File:Rockstar constellation vc.jpg

    The Constellation in Vice City

    The logo is on a heart-shaped tombstone and on a shirt of a person in a picture frame in Funeraria Romero.
  • On the parked Air Rockstar jumbo jets in Escobar International Airport, the name appears on the front of the jet and the logo appears on its tail.
  • The logo is on billboards across the street from Café Robina and across the street from Screw This.
  • On one of the variant of the Hotring Racer.
  • On one of the variant of the Bloodring Banger.
  • Some towels on the beach bear the logo.
  • The Rockstar logo is tagged multiple times near the large outdoor sewers in Little Haiti.

In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas[]

  • Carl Johnson's suitcase in the first cutscene has a Rockstar Games sticker.
  • In the mission, OG Loc, OG Loc's suitcase has the logo on it.
  • The logo appears on numerous items of clothing.
  • The action figure boxes for GTA Vice City and Manhunt characters in Zero RC bear the logo.
  • File:Rockstar constellation san andreas.jpg

    The Rockstar logo near the Big Ear

    The Rockstar constellation returns from GTA Vice City.
  • The Rockstar logo can also be seen on the San Fierro Tower in downtown San Fierro when coming off the Garver Bridge.
  • The name "Rock Star" appears on some drug dealers (the ones with hoodies).
  • The logo is emblazoned on a surfboard inside Sub Urban stores.
  • North of Los Santos, there is a place named "Northstar Rock", a clear reference to Rockstar North.
  • At Big Smoke's Crack House, there is a mat that says NOT WELCOME HERE ROCKSTAR NORTH, with the logo.

In Grand Theft Auto Advance[]

  • The logo appears on the walls of Mike's Staunton Island and Shoreside Vale hideouts.

In Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories[]

  • Graffiti resembling the logo can be seen throughout the city.
  • A pedestrian has the logo emblazoned on his hat.

In Grand Theft Auto IV[]

  • The bowling pins in Memory Lanes bear the logo.
  • Large concrete slabs near the Poop Deck feature the logo.
  • The zombie skin available in multiplayer wears yellow underwear with the Rockstar logo.
  • Some pedestrians can be seen wearing clothing featuring a logo that consists of an R and a star, but not in the same style as the Rockstar Games logo.
  • Rock Star Music & Video is likely named after Rockstar Games.
  • The "Key to the City" trophy/achievment has the Rockstar logo as its handle.

In Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars[]

  • The logo appears as a fridge magnet on the Mission Replay whiteboard, along with the Rockstar Leeds logo.

References[]

External links[]

Studios[]

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