Rockstar Games

Rockstar Games is a development division of video game publisher Take-Two Interactive that comprised of studios that have been acquired and renamed as well as others that have been created internally. Rockstar Games is most known for managing Rockstar North and Rockstar Leeds, studios that have been for most parts responsible for developing the Grand Theft Auto series.
Organization
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. Rockstar Games is headquartered in New York City, United States.
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. Although Rockstar Games studios tend to concentrate on their own game development, collaborative projects involving multiple Rockstar Games studios have occurred (i.e. with Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire and Max Payne 3), and certain elements from games developed by a Rockstar Games studio can emerge in games from another studio. In addition, many current Rockstar Games titles utilize the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine, a dedicated game engine developed by Rockstar San Diego. Rockstar Games has also conducted limited merger exercises on studios, such as the absorption of Rockstar Vancouver into Rockstar Toronto.
Due to Rockstar Games rebranding policy of acquired studios, misconceptions of Rockstar Games being a single game developer are not uncommon, often assuming all games released under the Rockstar Games label are created by the same development team.
Rockstar studios
Logo | Name | Location | Previous Name | Notes |
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Rockstar Leeds | Leeds, England | Mobius Entertainment | Based in the Stanningley district of Leeds. They helped create the three PSP GTA games. |
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Rockstar Lincoln | Lincoln, England | Tarantula Studios | Quality assurance and localization studio |
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Rockstar London | London, England | n/a | Formed in November 2005. Worked on Manhunt 2. |
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Rockstar New England | Andover, US | Mad Doc Software | Incorporated in 2008, they are best known for Empire Earth III. |
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Rockstar North | Edinburgh, Scotland | DMA Design | The best known Rockstar company. They are famous for the Grand Theft Auto series and Manhunt. |
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Rockstar San Diego | Carlsbad, US | Angel Studios | Based in a suburb of San Diego, the creators of Midtown Madness, Midnight Club and Red Dead Revolver, and the recent Red Dead Redemption. |
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Rockstar Toronto | Oakville, Canada | Rockstar Canada | Take Two's in-house development team, based in the outskirts of Toronto. Their most well-known work is their adaptation of the cult classic film The Warriors. |
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Rockstar Japan | Tokyo, Japan | n/a | The studio was founded in 2005. Works in conjunction with developer Capcom on Japanese localizations of numerous games by Rockstar. Also known as 'Rockstar Games Tokyo'. |
Former studios
Logo | Name | Location | Previous Names | Notes |
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Rockstar Vienna | Vienna, Austria | Neo Software | The studio was purchased by Rockstar Games in 2003, having been founded in 1993, and was closed on May 11, 2006. Worked on the Max Payne series, parts of Manhunt 2] and the Grand Theft Auto: Double Pack. |
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Rockstar Vancouver | Vancouver, Canada | Barking Dog Studios | They created Bully and Max Payne 3, as well as worked on the Grand Theft Auto: Double Pack. Dismantled and merged with Rockstar Toronto in 2012. |
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 has developed and released 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.
Works
Notable games and series
- Grand Theft Auto series (1997—pres.)
- Manhunt series (2003, 2007)
- Max Payne (2001—2012)
- Bully (including the Scholarship Edition) (2006, 2008)
- Midnight Club series (2000—pres.)
- Oni (2001)
- Red Dead series (2004, 2010)
- Smuggler's Run (2000—2002)
- Table Tennis (2006)
- The Warriors (2005)
- Wild Metal (2004)
- L.A. Noire (2011)
Full game list
- Grand Theft Auto 1 (1997)
- Grand Theft Auto: London 1969
- Earthworm Jim 3D (1999)
- Evel Knievel: The Game (1999)
- Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 (1999)
- Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999)
- Thrahser Presents Skate and Destroy (1999)
- Austin Powers: Oh Behave! (2000)
- Austin Powers: Welcome to My Underground Lair! (2000)
- Wild Metal: Reclaim the Future (2000)
- Midnight Club: Street Racing (2000)
- Surfing H30 (2000)
- Smuggler's Run (2000)
- Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory (2001)
- Oni (2001)
- Max Payne (2001)
- Grand Theft Auto III (2001)
- The Italian Job (2001)
- State of Emergency (2002)
- Smuggler's Run Warzones (2002)
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
- Midnight Club II (2003)
- Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne (2003)
- Manhunt (2003)
- Red Dead Revolver (2004)
- Grand Theft Auto Advance (2004)
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)
- Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (2005)
- The Warriors (2005)
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005)
- Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition Remix (2006)
- Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (2006)
- Bully (2006)
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006)
- Manhunt 2 (2007)
- Bully Scholarship Edition (2008)
- Grand Theft Auto IV (2008)
- Midnight Club Los Angeles (2008)
- Midnight Club LA Remix (2008)
- Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned (2009)
- Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (2009)
- Beaterator (2009)
- Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony (2009)
- Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (2009)
- Red Dead Redemption (2010)
- Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare (2010)
- L.A. Noire (2011)
- Max Payne 3 (2012)
- Grand Theft Auto V (In development, 2013)
- Agent (In development, release date TBA)
Films
Rockstar Games are credited as executive producers of Sunday Driver and The Football Factory.
Logo
Rockstar's logo consists of a black 'R' and a white star on a yellow 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.
- An advertisement in Bedford Point shows a coffee cup with the logo on it.
- A pedestrian that is commonly seen in Staunton Island wears a jacket that says "ROCK STAR" on the front.
- 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.
- The logo can be seen on the cap of a pedestrian wearing headphones.
- The clerk of the Ammu-Nation stores wears a sweater with the Rockstar name on the front.
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In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

- 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.
- 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.
- On the walls of the drainage canal in Little Haiti.
In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Carl Johnson's suitcase in the first cutscene has a Rockstar Games sticker.
- 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.
- The Rockstar constellation returns from GTA Vice City.
- The Rockstar logo can also be seen on a 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.
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 Castle Gardens 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.
- An Angels of Death member, dubbed the "Fat Biker", has the logo on his belt buckle.
- If one looks closely at the fabric of the white couches in the Middle Park East Safehouse, an uppercase 'R' that resembles the Rockstar logo can be seen.
- On the Alpha Milk store front in Dukes.
In Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
- The logo appears as a fridge magnet on the Mission Replay whiteboard, along with the Rockstar Leeds logo.
- The "Key to the City" trophy has the Rockstar logo as its handle.
In other media
- John Carter from the NBC drama ER has a Rockstar logo on his locker.
- Seth Cohen from the Fox drama The O.C. has a Rockstar North logo on his bedroom wall.
- Trevor Morgan from the movie Mean Creek has a Rockstar logo on his bedroom wall.
- At the beginning of Scary Movie 2, a Rockstar Games Logo poster can be seen.
- In the TV series Grounded For Life, there is a Rockstar logo sticker on the Finnertys' fridge.
- In the TV series Malcolm in the Middle, there is a Rockstar logo sticker on the family's fridge.
External links
- Rockstar Games
- Take-Two Interactive
- Rockstar Games entry at MobyGames
Studios