Rockstar Games is a development division of video game publisher Take-Two Interactive. The brand is most known for the Grand Theft Auto 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 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 studios

Logo	Name	Notes
	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 pc version of L.A. Noire
	Rockstar Lincoln	Based in Lincoln, England. Quality assurance and localization studio, formerly Tarantula Studios.
	Rockstar London	Based in London, England. Formed in November 2005. Worked on Manhunt 2.
	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	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.
	Rockstar San Diego	Based in Carlsbad, California, a suburb of San Diego. Previously known as Angel Studios of Midtown Madness, Midnight Club, Red Dead Revolver fame, and the newly released and critically acclaimed, Red Dead Redemption.
	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.
	Rockstar Vancouver	Based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Previously known as Barking Dog Studios. They have released Bully.
	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.
	Rockstar Japan	Based in Tokyo, Japan. 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'.

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.

Works

Notable Games & Series

• Grand Theft Auto (1997-present)
• Red Dead (2004-present)
• Manhunt (2003-2007)
• The Warriors (2005)
• Max Payne (2001-present)
• L.A. Noire (2011)
• Bully (including 'Scholarship Edition') (2006; 2008)
• Table Tennis (2006)
• Midnight Club series (2000-present)
• Oni (2001)
• Wild Metal (2004)
• Smuggler's Run (2000-2002)

Films

Rockstar Games are credited as executive producers of Sunday Driver and The Football Factory.

Full list of Games:

• 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)
• The Lost and Damned (2009)
• Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (2009)
• Beaterator (2009)
• 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)
• Agent (In development, release date TBA)
• Grand Theft Auto V (trailer on 2nd November 2011, release date TBA)

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 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

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• At Big Smoke's Crack House, there is a matt 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.

External links

• Rockstar Games
• Take-Two Interactive
• Rockstar Games entry at MobyGames

Studios

• Rockstar North
• Rockstar Toronto
• Rockstar Leeds
• Rockstar San Diego
• Rockstar Lincoln
• Rockstar New York
• Rockstar Japan