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Rockstar Games, Inc.

Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video game industry
Predecessor	BMG Interactive
Founded	December 1998; 26 years ago (1998-12)
Founders	Sam Houser Dan Houser Terry Donovan Jamie King
Headquarters	New York City, New York, U.S.
Key people	Sam Houser (executive producer) Dan Houser (creative director)
Parent	Take-Two Interactive
Subsidiaries	List of subsidiaries
Website	rockstargames.com

Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, and as successor to BMG Interactive, a dormant video game publisher Take-Two Interactive had previously acquired the assets of. Founding members of the operation were Sam and Dan Houser, Terry Donovan and Jamie King, who worked for Take-Two Interactive at the time, and of which the Houser brothers were previously executives at BMG Interactive. Since 1999, several companies acquired by or established under Take-Two Interactive became part of Rockstar Games, such was Rockstar Canada (later renamed Rockstar Toronto) the first one in 1999, and Rockstar India the most recent in 2016. All companies organized under Rockstar Games bear the "Rockstar" name and logo; in that context, Rockstar Games is often also referred to as Rockstar New York or Rockstar NYC.

Rockstar Games predominantly publishes games in the action-adventure genre, while racing games also saw success for the company. One of such action-adventure game franchises is Grand Theft Auto, which Rockstar Games took over from BMG Interactive, which published the series' original 1997 entry. The newset game in the series, Grand Theft Auto V, has sold roughly 85 million copies since its release in September 2013, marking it one of the best-selling video games of all time, and Rockstar Games' most successful game yet. Other popular franchises published by Rockstar Games are Red Dead, Midnight Club, Max Payne and Mahunt.

History

In May 1998, Take-Two Interactive acquired the assets of dormant British video game publisher BMG Interactive from its parent, BMG Entertainment (in turn a Bertelsmann subsidiary), in exchange for 1.85 million shares, around 16% of the company's common stock. Through the acquisition, Take-Two Interactive gained rights to BMG Interactive-owned intellectual properties, including Grand Theft Auto and the upcoming Space Station Silicon Valley. BMG Interactive executives Sam Houser, Dan Houser and Jamie King, as well as Terry Donovan of BMG Entertainment-owned record label Arista Records, subsequently moved to New York City to work for Take-Two Interactive. In December 1998, the Houser brothers, Donovan and King established Rockstar Games as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, acting as the company's high-end publishing label.

In January 2007, Take-Two Interactive announced that Donovan, until then managing director for Rockstar Games, left the company following a four-month leave of absence. He was succeded by Gary Dale, who became chief operating officer. Dale previously worked with the Houser brothers and King at BMG Interactive, but left the company when it was acquired by Take-Two Interactive, and joined Capcom's European operations as managing director in 2003.

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 250 million as of November 2016. Grand Theft Auto V alone shipped the highest number of units within the series' and the company's history, with over 85 million copies, becoming one of the best-selling video games of all time.

At the British Academy Video Games Awards in March 2014, Rockstar Games was honored with the BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award for "creating intricately layered interactive worlds that have kept the company at the forefront of the gaming industry for over a decade, both critically and commercially".

Company philosophy

Despite their status as creators of 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.

In October 2011, Dan Houser told Famitsu that Rockstar Games was intentionally avoiding developing games in the first-person shooter genre, because it is "in DNA to avoid doing what other companies are doing. he goalpoint of Rockstar is to have the players really feel what trying to do." Houser went on to say "Our games up to now have been different from any genre that existed at the time; we 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. If we make the sort of games we want to play, then we believe people are going to buy them."

The company has been involved with charitable work ranging from supporting Movember, offering appearances in games as a raffle prize, and charity live streams.

Games published

Films produced

Subsidiaries

Current

Logo	Name	Location	Years	Notes
	RAGE Technology Group	Carlsbad, California, U.S.	2004–present	In-house game engine team at Rockstar San Diego. Responsible for the development and maintainance of the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine.
	Rockstar India	Bangalore, India	2016–present	Works in conjunction with the Rockstar Dedicated Unit at Technicolor India.
	Rockstar International	London, England	2003–present	The international publishing headquarters for Rockstar Games. Located in the same offices as Rockstar London.
	Rockstar Leeds	Leeds, England	2004–present	Created Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories. Also ported L.A. Noire to Microsoft Windows.
	Rockstar Lincoln	Lincoln, England	2002–present	Dedicated quality assurance and localization house for games published by Rockstar Games.
	Rockstar London	London, England	2005–present	Completed the development on Manhunt 2 and Midnight Club: L.A. Remix. Located in the same offices as Rockstar International.
	Rockstar New England	Ballardvale, Massachusetts, U.S.	2008–present	Responsible for Bully: Scholarship Edition.
	Rockstar North	Edinburgh, Scotland	2002–present	Responsible for Manhunt and the Grand Theft Auto series.
	Rockstar San Diego	Carlsbad, California, U.S.	2002–present	Responsible for the Red Dead, Smuggler's Run and Midnight Club series.
	Rockstar Toronto	Oakville, Ontario, Canada	1999–present	Responsible for The Warriors. Also developed Microsoft Windows ports for Grand Theft Auto IV, The Lost and Damned, The Ballad of Gay Tony, and Grand Theft Auto V.

Former

Logo	Name	Location	Years	Notes
	Rockstar Vancouver	Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada	2002–2012	Responsible for Bully. Merged into Rockstar Toronto in July 2012.
	Rockstar Vienna	Vienna, Austria	2003–2006	Porting house with a focus on Xbox. Closed in May 2006, down during the development of Manhunt 2, which was shifted to Rockstar London.

Technology

RAGE

Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) is a game engine developed by the Rockstar San Diego-internal RAGE Technology Group, created to facilitate game development on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, OS X and Wii systems.

Social Club

Rockstar Games Social Club is an online gaming service created by Rockstar Games for authentication and multiplayer applications within their games.

Notes

1. Until 2001 as DMA Design.
2. Until 2002 as Angel Studios.
3. Rockstar Studios is a collaborative effort between Rockstar Vancouver, Rockstar London, Rockstar Toronto, Rockstar New England, Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar Leeds, and Rockstar North.

References

1. https://www.telecompaper.com/news/bmg-interactive-acquired-by-taketwo-interactive--132878
2. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/take-2-takes-bmg/1100-2462930/
3. ^ "ROCKSTAR GAMES: Multimedia Designers". Design Museum. Archived from the original on September 27, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
4. "Sam Houser: His-Story". Develop. August 15, 2008. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
5. "GTA, Rockstar co-founding brothers squeeze into Britain's 1,000 richest people list with £90 million". GameSpot. Archived from the original on July 10, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
6. http://www.playboy.com/articles/grand-theft-auto-sam-houser-interview
7. Sinclair, Brendan (January 12, 2007). "Terry Donovan leaves Rockstar". GameSpot. Archived from the original on April 16, 2016. Retrieved February 14, 2016. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
8. "Capcom exec leaves to join Rockstar". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
9. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/67318-Rockstar-Hires-New-COO
10. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dale-drives-back-rockstar-as-127071
11. "Rockstar titles have now shipped 250 million copies to date". GameSpot. February 4, 2014. Archived from the original on February 7, 2014. Retrieved February 7, 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
12. Cragg, Oliver (November 3, 2016). "Grand Theft Auto life-time sales hit 250 million, GTA 5 and GTA Online ships 70 million units". International Business Times. Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
13. Tassi, Paul. "Here Are The Five Best-Selling Video Games Of All Time". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 7, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
14. Sirani, Jordan (November 7, 2017). "GTA 5 Has Sold-In 85 Million Copies". IGN. Archived from the original on November 9, 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
15. http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26417488
16. https://www.polygon.com/2014/3/3/5465544/rockstar-games-bafta-fellowship-gta
17. Ryan.p (May 18, 2012). "Gaming Gods: Dan and Sam Houser". The Gamer's Hub. Archived from the original on August 19, 2017. Retrieved March 19, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
18. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113855-Rockstar-Make-Good-Games-and-the-Money-Will-Follow
19. https://gamerant.com/rockstar-games-avoiding-first-person-shooters-tao-112680/
20. http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2011/10/26/rockstar-assures-gamers-that-the-studios-priority-is-doing-new-things/
21. Purchese, Robert (October 26, 2009). "Rockstar sponsors Movember charity". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 4, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
22. "Rockstar offers game appearance prize for charity". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on February 4, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
23. "Rockstar North". Sick Kids Save Point. Archived from the original on February 4, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)

External links

• Official website

v t e Take-Two Interactive
2K	Current studios 31st Union Cat Daddy Games Cloud Chamber Firaxis Games games Gearbox Software Hangar 13 HB Studios Mass Media Visual Concepts Former studios 2K Australia 2K China 2K Czech 2K Los Angeles 2K Marin Frog City Software Indie Built Irrational Games PopTop Software Venom Games Notable games BioShock series Borderlands series Civilization series Duke Nukem series Evolve Lego 2K Drive Mafia series Prey Spec Ops series The Darkness series XCOM series 2K series MLB 2K series NBA 2K series NBA 2K League NHL 2K series PGA Tour 2K WWE 2K series
Rockstar Games	Current studios Rockstar Dundee Rockstar India Rockstar Leeds Rockstar Lincoln Rockstar London Rockstar New England Rockstar North Rockstar San Diego Rockstar Toronto Former studios Dhruva Interactive Rockstar Vancouver Rockstar Vienna Notable games Bully Grand Theft Auto series L.A. Noire Manhunt series Max Payne series Midnight Club series Red Dead series The Warriors Technology Rockstar Advanced Game Engine
Zynga	Current studios NaturalMotion BossAlien Peak Games Small Giant Games Zynga Eugene Zynga with Friends Notable games Chess with Friends Clay Jam Drop7 Empires & Allies FarmVille Gems with Friends Hit It Rich! Word Streak with Friends Words with Friends Zynga Poker Technology Chartboost Euphoria
Other	Ghost Story Games Nordeus Socialpoint List of games List of acquisitions
Former labels	Double Take Comics Gathering of Developers Global Star Software Gotham Games Jack of All Games Private Division Take-Two Licensing TalonSoft

• 1998 establishments in New York (state)
• BAFTA fellows
• Rockstar Games
• Software companies based in New York City
• Take-Two Interactive divisions and subsidiaries
• Video game companies established in 1998
• Video game companies of the United States
• Video game development companies
• Video game publishers