Rockstar Games

Rockstar Games is an American video game developer and publisher, operating as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive. Based in New York City, the brand is an award-winning studio renowned for creating some of the most successful and culturally significant video game franchises, most notably Grand Theft Auto.

Overview

Founded in 1997 by brothers Sam and Dan Houser, along with Terry Donovan, Jamie King, and Gary Foreman, Rockstar Games has established a reputation for developing deep, immersive, and sprawling open-world experiences. As of January 2025, co-founder Dan Houser is no longer with the company. The studio is known for its ambitious and innovative projects, from the detailed Western landscapes of the Red Dead Redemption franchise to the satirical urban sprawls of the Grand Theft Auto series.

The company's corporate culture is famously secretive, with Rockstar being notoriously tight-lipped about its projects until it is ready for an official reveal. The studio has also been known to court controversy with its mature themes. Rockstar is also an industry leader in community engagement, frequently using its own news platform, the Rockstar Newswire, to endorse fan-created content for games like GTA V ¹.

History

Rockstar Games' origins trace back to March 12, 1998, when Take-Two Interactive acquired the assets of the now-defunct British video game publisher BMG Interactive from BMG Entertainment, a unit of Bertelsmann². This deal saw Take-Two issue 1.85 million shares (approximately 16%) of its common stock to BMG Entertainment. This deal brought several valuable IPs under Take-Two's control, including DMA Design's Grand Theft Auto and Space Station Silicon Valley. The acquisition was officially completed on March 25.³

Following the transaction, several key figures from BMG Interactive made the move to New York to join Take-Two. This included Dan Houser, Sam Houser, and Jamie King, as well as Gary Foreman and Terry Donovan, the latter of whom came from BMG's Arista Records division.⁴

By April 1998, Sam Houser had been named vice president of worldwide product development at Take-Two⁵. Later that year, in December, the Housers, along with Donovan and King, formally founded Rockstar Games as a prestige publishing label under Take-Two. The label's launch was publicly announced on January 22, 1999⁶⁷.

Terry Donovan went on to become Rockstar's managing director but stepped down in January 2007 after being on leave for four months⁸. He was replaced by Gary Dale as chief operating officer. Dale had previously collaborated with the Rockstar founders at BMG before spending several years at Capcom Europe beginning in 2003⁹.

As of February 2014, Rockstar Games had shipped over 250 million game copies across its catalog¹⁰. By November 2016, the Grand Theft Auto series alone had also surpassed 250 million units shipped¹¹. Among these, Grand Theft Auto V stands out as the studio's most successful title, having moved more than 170 million units to become the second best-selling video game in history¹².

In March 2014, Rockstar was awarded the prestigious BAFTA Academy Fellowship at the 10th British Academy Games Awards. The honor recognized the company's reputation for building deep, immersive game worlds that kept it at the cutting edge of the industry both commercially and critically for more than ten years¹³.

Jennifer Kolbe, who started her career at Take-Two as a front desk receptionist, now leads Rockstar's global publishing efforts across all development studios¹⁴. Simon Ramsey serves as head of PR and communications¹⁵.

In May 2019, Rockstar purchased Dhruva Interactive from Starbreeze Studios for $7.9 million. The acquisition closed that same month, with Dhruva's team folded into Rockstar India. A few months later, in September, Rockstar launched its own digital platform, the Rockstar Games Launcher, offering digital sales, DRM, online multiplayer, and communications.¹⁶

Following a lengthy post-Red Dead Redemption 2 period, Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser exited the company on March 11, 2020. Later that year, in October, Rockstar acquired Scottish developer Ruffian Games, rebranding it as Rockstar Dundee¹⁷. In September 2022, Rockstar suffered a major security breach, leading to the leak of 90 early-development videos from Grand Theft Auto VI. The company called it a "network intrusion" and voiced strong disappointment over the unauthorized footage, though they stated it would not significantly impact ongoing development.

In August 2023, Rockstar announced it had acquired the Cfx.re team, creators of FiveM and RedM, two popular modding platforms for GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2. That same year, longtime VP of writing Michael Unsworth left the company after 16 years of service¹⁸.

Most recently, in March 2025, Rockstar revealed it had acquired Sydney-based developer Video Games Deluxe, a studio known for its work on L.A. Noire, and rebranded the team as Rockstar Australia.

In an interview with Famitsu in October 2011, Dan Houser explained that Rockstar Games deliberately steers clear of making traditional first-person shooters. He said the studio's philosophy is "to avoid doing what everyone else is doing," emphasizing that Rockstar's focus is always on ensuring players truly feel the experiences they create. Houser added that Rockstar's games have consistently stood apart from existing genres, pointing to the Grand Theft Auto series as an example of the company inventing its own niche rather than following established templates. "We didn't follow some business manual to get where we are," he noted. "We just make the kind of games we want to play and we trust that others will want to play them too."¹⁹

Beyond game development, Rockstar has also participated in various charitable initiatives. These have included supporting the Movember Foundation²⁰, hosting charity livestreams²¹, and even offering in-game character appearances as prizes in fundraising raffles²².

Branding and Design

Rockstar's visual identity is iconic, centered around its distinct "R" and star logo. Each of its subsidiary studios uses a variation of this logo, typically distinguished by a unique color.

In its early days, the company employed unconventional marketing strategies, including using guerrilla marketing teams to distribute posters and stickers. It also hosted a series of exclusive parties known as the "Rockstar Loft" in 1999 and 2000, where entry tickets were not sold but granted to individuals who passed a personality screening over the phone²³.

Products

Rockstar Games' portfolio extends beyond game development into software, subscription services, and other media.

Video Game Franchises

Rockstar is the creator of numerous critically acclaimed and commercially successful franchises, including:

• Grand Theft Auto
• Red Dead Redemption
• Max Payne
• Bully
• L.A. Noire
• Midnight Club
• Manhunt

Software

• Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE): A proprietary game engine developed in-house to facilitate development across multiple platforms. It has powered most of the company's titles since 2006, including Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2.
• Rockstar Games Launcher: A proprietary PC game launcher released in 2019. It consolidates a user's Rockstar titles, including those purchased on other storefronts, and features an integrated store. Early adopters of the launcher received a free copy of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. They've also made both the legacy and enhanced version available on Steam and Epic Games via the official launcher.
• Rockstar Games Social Club: An online service providing multiplayer and community features for its games.

GTA+

A paid subscription service that provides members with various benefits for GTA Online and grants access to a rotating library of classic Rockstar titles. Games featured have included Bully, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, and L.A. Noire.

Other Media

• Films: Rockstar has produced several films, including the 2004 sports drama The Football Factory and the documentary Sunday Driver, which was bundled with a special edition of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas ²⁴.
• CircoLoco Records: In May 2021, Rockstar launched a record label in collaboration with the Ibiza-based dance party Circoloco²⁵.

Locations / Presence

Rockstar Games operates as a collection of global studios that frequently collaborate on projects, often receiving a collective credit as "Rockstar Games" or "Rockstar Studios". Its most prominent studios include Rockstar North, the primary developer of the Grand Theft Auto series, and Rockstar San Diego, known for the Red Dead and Midnight Club series.

In March 2025, the company acquired Sydney-based Video Games Deluxe, which was renamed Rockstar Australia. This new studio, which specializes in remasters and ports, is reportedly collaborating on an unnamed AAA open-world title.

A list of its studios includes:

• Rockstar North (Edinburgh, Scotland)
• Rockstar San Diego (Carlsbad, California)
• Rockstar Toronto (Oakville, Ontario)
• Rockstar Australia (Sydney, Australia)
• Rockstar Dundee (Dundee, Scotland)
• Rockstar India (Bengaluru, India)
• Rockstar Leeds (Leeds, England)
• Rockstar Lincoln (Lincoln, England)
• Rockstar London (London, England)
• Rockstar New England (Andover, Massachusetts)

Trivia

• Around 2001, Rockstar Games was reportedly offered $5 million for the film rights to Grand Theft Auto. The proposed film was to be directed by Tony Scott and star rapper Eminem, but co-founder Sam Houser turned the offer down.²⁶
• The 2005 title The Warriors was developed by Rockstar Toronto and remains the only game where the studio was the lead developer.²⁷
• It is suggested that Bully may be the only Rockstar title with zero on-screen or off-screen deaths.
• The company has a history of creating musical content for its games, such as the Welcome to Los Santos album, which was released on vinyl²⁸.