Rockstar San Diego, Inc.

Rockstar San Diego is a Rockstar Games development studio based in Carlsbad, California. It was previously known as Angel Studios before joining Rockstar.

From Angel Studios to Rockstar San Diego

Take-Two acquired Angel Studios in November 2002, bringing the developer of Midnight Club and Smuggler’s Run into Rockstar. The earlier work matters to the studio’s identity: its background includes street racing and off-road driving, before its later association with open-world Westerns.³

Midnight Club II took racing into the streets of Los Angeles, Paris and Tokyo, using cars and motorcycles. Racers could find their own way through the city instead of following a closed circuit, making route choice part of the competition.⁵

Games and technology

The studio also developed Red Dead Revolver.⁶ Rockstar San Diego developed Red Dead Redemption with Rockstar North. The game was built on the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine, or RAGE.¹

Before Red Dead Redemption, the studio developed Rockstar Games presents Table Tennis for Xbox 360. The sports game focuses on competitive matches rather than open-world exploration, with eleven playable characters and Xbox Live tournament play. It shows the range of the team’s projects before the larger landscapes of Red Dead Redemption.⁴

The studio's work is not limited to a single series. Engineering roles at the studio cover online services used across Rockstar's titles and franchises.²

Location

Rockstar San Diego is based in Carlsbad, California.²