It’s hard to imagine right now, but it’s not just large gaming companies whose names begin with the word “Electronic” that can find themselves in scandalous situations. For example, the biography of the beloved Rockstar also has many dark spots that the studio would prefer to erase from your memory. Gmbox invites you, for the sake of variety, to shift the focus of “from-clear-whom”, and delve into the dirty laundry of the company that gave the world Grand Theft Auto.

10. Rockstar started with games for children

Yes, the great brawler and creators of some of the most “adult” games on the planet started with fairly modest projects intended for teenagers and even children. A classic example is Thrasher: Skate & Destroy. Despite the presence of the purely punk term “destroy” in the title, this is a completely cute skater simulator suitable for the whole family. However, already in Earthworm Jim 3D (Rockstar was the publisher of the game in the United States), a certain madness was felt, which later leaked into GTA.

9. Voice actor Niko Bellica: “They didn’t pay me enough!”

Actor Michael Hollick received $1,050 for every day he voiced a cute Eastern European guy - not bad, we could live like that, right? However, this was not enough for Mr. Hollick. Moreover, after the fact - after the contract was signed, all the lines and dialogues were voiced, and sales of GTA IV exceeded $500 million. Of course, Rockstar did not revise the fee, and the company is right: Hollick could have waited for the release of GTA V, or even the second coming. However, the Hollywood Actors Guild was still able to make a scandal out of it.

8. Manhunt Caused a Rockstar Split

After the severe criticism of GTA III and Vice City, Rockstar understood that the concept of the upcoming Manhunt was a leap into the unknown, a final crossing of the line and an invasion of those bloody meadows where previously only Postal had the courage to graze. Plastic bags, shivs, a shotgun blast to the head at point-blank range - this was already realistic (by the standards of 2003) violence, it could not be written off as a “parody of modern cruel morals”, as in GTA. A small part of the team refused to create Manhunt and left the studio.

7. Rockstar stole rapper Daz Dillinger's tracks for GTA V

In the process of preparing the soundtrack for GTA V, Rockstar agents contacted Daz Dillinger and offered him the “insultingly small” (as the artist himself described it) sum of $4,271 for two tracks. The rapper refused, but his tracks still ended up in GTA V. The singer hired lawyers and demanded either payment of impressive compensation, or... destruction of all copies of the game. The case did not come to trial, nor to destruction - as we know, either. Rockstar’s hook makers turned out to be “a little” more professional than Dez’s lawyers.

6. Target refused to sell GTA V due to violence against women

Closer to the release of GTA V, it was already clear that someone would start a scandal in the style of “Will no one think about the children!?!?” But no: human rights organizations chose another vulnerable category - women. Over 50 thousand people signed the petition, and Australian Target stores decided not to sell GTA V. In these supermarkets you can easily find other violent games, violent films and even some erotica, but Grand Theft Auto V is taboo. About 80 times more men than women die in the game, but no one cares anymore.

5. Rockstar “accidentally” left a sex mini-game in GTA: San Andreas

Probably everyone knows about the legendary Hot Coffee mod. But not everyone knows that technically this is not a mod at all, but completely official content created by Rockstar programmers. Then it was decided not to add it to the final release, but the code was not cut, but simply blocked. That is, the modders did not create it from scratch, but they found a way to unlock it instantly. In many scenes the characters are fully clothed, but Australia - you guessed it - banned sales of the game, and in the US it was given the strictest age rating. Like pornography.

4. Change of name Bully in the UK

In the mid-2000s, the topic of protecting children from bullying, that is, from attacks at school, was extremely relevant in Britain. And Rockstar should have released a game called Bully during this period! The general public, of course, freaked out. So much so that in the United Kingdom they even had to change the name to Canis Canem Edit, which literally translates from Latin as “Man is a wolf to man.” An interesting fact: when the passions subsided, critics were surprised to find out that the goofy Jimmy Hopkins ( main character) in many situations protects nerds (or, as they said then, nerds) from the attacks of even more severe gopniks. As a result, the re-release of Bully: Scholarship Edition was able to safely be released with the original name even in the lands of Her Majesty.

3. Indirect relationship between Manhunt and real murder

Again, in the mid-2000s, journalists greedy for sensations received unique opportunity create an unprecedented scandal. Just think - the police added a copy of a video game to the case of a real (and very brutal) murder as one of the evidence. And what a video game - Manhunt! Then, however, one “insignificant” detail became clear, which the media vultures initially chose to omit: the box belonged to the victim, not the killer. Agree, here the “pernicious influence of video games” is not so obvious.

2. Manhunt 2 = 0, world = 1

And again Manhunt, but this time the second part. After the first, the world prepared for the meeting. The ESRB, BBFC and other organizations assigned the game impossible ratings: sales in Britain were completely prohibited, in the USA sales were allowed only in small specialized stores. For an era without widespread high-speed Internet, this was a complete failure. Rockstar had to apply filters to moments of murder, remove the most brutal executions (mostly beheadings) and eliminate the reward system for special sadism. It must be admitted that at that time the company lost the battle with the politically correct world.

1. The most famous scandal in modern Rockstar history

It’s hard to envy Lindsay Lohan: the fame is gone, the roles are over, the money for coke... so are the coconuts, and the actress really needs the road to fresh fruit! What to do? Of course, sue Rockstar for the cameo character Lacey Jonas, who was (allegedly) completely copied from Lindsay herself. But the brawler didn’t succeed. A New York court ruled: the genre of satire involves the creation of characters that are very similar to real ones in order to ridicule the shortcomings of their prototypes. GTA V is a satire. Therefore, no violation of rights occurred. Well, good luck, Lindsay: you'll have to climb unfamiliar palm trees for the coveted coconuts.

Date of publication: 10/27/2016 20:10:26

Today Rockstar is a successful studio whose games sell tens of millions of copies, but once upon a time this studio was far from developing a car thief simulator, and it was called differently.

It was the end of the 80s. Four guys: David Jones, Russell Kaye, Mike Dailly and Steve Hammond founded a studio called DMA Design, which they saw in the documentation for the Amiga computer. The creators decided to start developing games and the first were two space shooters - Menace and Blood Money (not to be confused with Hitman).

Menace

Blood Money

These games were released on the Amiga and immediately attracted attention, as they were made very well.

But this studio was truly remembered for its next game. On February 14, 1991, a game called Lemmings was released. In it, the player had to help a bunch of short people - Lemmings - get home. The gameplay was extremely simple. The player must give commands to individual lemmings, thus saving the rest. The game sold 20 million copies and became a cult classic.

Lemmings

The game turned out to be so good that it was followed by numerous sequels.

In 1993, DMA released a scrolling shooter about a robot. The game was received quite well. Also in 1993, a platform race called Uniracers was released. In it, the player, driving a unicycle (unicycle), performed tricks.

Uniracers

In the mid-90s, DMA teamed up with Nintendo and developed a 3D shooter called Body Harvest for the N64 console. Due to some disagreements with Nintendo, the project was frozen. Development continued in the late 90s after Midway purchased the rights. The game was released in 1996 and received great positive reviews, despite the hate from some players (mainly because of the graphics).

Body Harvest

A year earlier, DMA released a game that would set the direction of the entire studio for a long time. In 1997, the world saw the first part of Grand Theft Auto (later GTA). The game received a top view and the ability to control any vehicle. The player controlled a certain criminal and carried out orders for various gangsters. The game took place in three fictional cities: Liberty City (a prototype of New York), Vice City (a prototype of Miami) and San Andreas (an entire state uniting several cities). Despite the high level of violence, the game turned out to be very successful and provided the company with fame.

GTA

The result was not long in coming. DMA was purchased by British publisher Gramlin Interactive. After two games released under the wing of Gremlin interactive - they were the same Body Harvest and Wild Metal Country - a tank arcade game with realistic physics, the publishing company Gremlin interactive closed.

Wild Metal Country

After this, there was a series of resales of the studio and, in the end, DMA went to the publisher Take-Two and was renamed into the familiar Rockstar Games. The second part of GTA was already developed under the wing of Take-Two. In it we again got into the shoes of a murderer-hijacker. The game had several innovations and improved graphics. GTA had not yet gotten rid of the top view. But time passed. The millennium was just around the corner.

GTA 2

That is why in 2001, Rockstar released the revolutionary GTA III. The game was not only a breakthrough in the genre, but also provided the studio with unfading fame and also did a great service to the PlayStation2, which, thanks to GTA III, became the best-selling console. GTA III ran on the new RenderWare engine, which made the game cross-platform. In GTA III, the player had to take on the role of Claude, a silent character who, at the beginning of the game, by the will of fate, escapes prison, where he ended up due to the betrayal of her accomplice Catalina. We had to work for numerous gangster groups, carrying out their tasks. The tasks were very varied. The game itself was incredible for its time. Such freedom was fascinating. The player was allowed to do whatever he wanted: ride a vehicle, work as a medic, policeman, taxi driver, fireman. There was even a Dodo plane in the game, which could not fly for a long time and served as transport for one of the missions.

GTA III

Before the release of GTA III, Rockstar released the arcade racing game Midnight Club Street Racing, which marked the beginning of a whole series of races. In it we play as an ordinary taxi driver who wants at all costs to get into the ranks of the Midnight Club racing group, which we actually have to help him with. A feature of the game was the presence of an open world (and this was before the second Underground) and a good fleet of vehicles.

Midnight Club Street Racing

After the release of the third part of GTA, the former DMA was renamed Rockstar North.

In 2002, a new part of GTA entitled Vice City was released on PS-2. The game took a lot from the third part, but it also had its advantages. Firstly, the graphics have improved. Also in this part a voiced GG appeared. Increased total quantity transport, both land and air. Thanks to GG, the plot turned out to be very juicy, and the game itself is rightfully considered the most stylish in the series.

GTAVC

2003 was a year of scandals for Rockstar, because it was this year that the brutal stealth action game Manhunt was released on PS2. In it we had to play as a man who was caught on the set of a terrible movie and in order to survive, the player had to kill people. The tougher the better. The game created a lot of hype in the media and was banned in several countries.

Manhunt

In 2004, a new part of GTA was released on PS2. GTA San Andreas was a masterpiece, and this is considering the fact that it was developed on the same engine as the two previous games.

The game had many innovations, along with improved graphics. The amount of gaming options was staggering. You could go to a cafe and buy clothes, tune cars and go to the gym. But the main change lay in the plot. He became bigger, fatter and more interesting. In GTASA we played as African-American Carl Johnson (CJ in common parlance). At the beginning of the game, they show how the GG returns home from the north coast (Liberty City) to his mother’s funeral. There he delves into the main problems of his native group and begins the path to greatness. The game received very high ratings and good reviews and its fame has not yet faded (largely thanks to mods and multiplayer additions).

GTASA

In 2005-06, the Rockstar North studio released two games that complement the stories of the third part and Vice City. The first game, called Liberty City Stories, told the story of Toni Cipriani (one of the characters giving missions to Claude). In many ways, the game was not far from the third part, except that the vehicle fleet was more extensive.

Liberty City Stories

The second game was Vice City Stories. In this part we play as Victor Vance, the brother of one of the antagonists of Vice City. The player had to work for the already familiar gangs of Haitians, Cubans, the Diaz gang, as well as for the military, because the main character was a military man himself. As with the previous game, there are not many innovations: a fleet of vehicles and some weapons.

Vice City Stories

Also in 2006, a game called Bully was released. In it we were told the story of Jimmy Hopkins - a difficult teenager who was sent to the most strict academy - Bullworth. In the game we have to experience all the subtleties of the life of a hooligan. Fights, pranks, lessons and training. The game was released on PS-2 and was ported to PC.

Bully

In 2007, a sequel to the acclaimed Manhunt was released. The second part received a new portion of criticism from worried parents, but it turned out no worse than the first.

This time the player took control of a character named Daniel. A former scientist with a split personality staying in a psychiatric clinic. One fine day, a storm cuts out all the electricity in the hospital, as a result of which all the patients of the hospital are freed. This is where Daniel's second personality, Leo, comes to the rescue. He teaches Daniel to kill, with extreme cruelty.

Manhunt 2

In 2008, a new part of GTA was released. GTA IV got a new engine and moved into the HD category.

In this part, Rockstar decided to move away from the standard scheme and do something serious. The player was given control of a character named Niko Bellic. Niko arrived (or rather sailed) to Liberty City from Eastern Europe. Having listened to the tales of his brother Roman, he rushed after the American dream. Having arrived, he quickly realized that everything Roman was talking about was just fiction. Studio apartment with cockroaches and working as a taxi driver - that’s all the brother was rich in. Niko quickly realized that you can earn more than just working as a taxi driver.

Unlike the previous part, the game has lost quite a lot in terms of variety. There were no more rocking chairs or tuning of cars. And other aspects of the game have lost some weight. But the game did not lose its popularity because of this and was sold out in huge quantities.

GTA IV

In 2010, an RPG action game called Red was released on PS3 and Xbox 360. Dead Redemption. The setting of the game was America at the beginning of the 20th century.

The main character is a former thug named John Marston. Now he works for government agents. In front of him main task- find and kill his former colleagues in robbery, and if he fails, his family will suffer.

Everything in the game is done at the highest level. Big open world large number firearms and horses as a means of transportation. The game became one of the best on the console market and was favored by critics.

RDR

In 2011, a game called L.A. was released. Noire. In it we were given the opportunity to feel like a real detective.

The main character of the game is Cole Phelps. Marine and World War II veteran. After the service, he decided to join the police. Over time, Cole began to move up the ranks and after one successful interrogation, he was offered a job as a detective.

The game captures the spirit of America in the 50s and 60s very well. Cars, music, architecture. But the main feature of the game is precisely the work of a detective. Interrogations, search for evidence, interesting system"a liar is not a liar." All this together makes for a very good game.

L.A. Noire

In 2012, the studio released the third part of the Max Payne game (the previous parts were developed by Remedy Entertainment, with the participation of Rockstar). Rainy and noir New York gave way to sunny and no less noir Brazil. Max, very old and battered by life, left the service and now works as a security guard for one of the mafia bosses.

Old age is not a joy, but it did not affect Max's shape in any way. Hurricane action mixed with an excellent plot and the main feature of the series - the bullet time function - provides long hours of fun.

Max Payne 3

And so, in 2014, the fifth part of GTA was released. The new engine provided graphics and physics high level. The game takes place in Los Santos around three protagonists: Michael, Trevor and Franklin. Michael and Trevor are accomplices in a thieves' case in the distant past. As fate would have it, their paths diverged. Michael entered the witness protection program, started a family and settled in a huge house. Trevor went to countryside and all this time he was engaged in self-destruction, simultaneously fighting with local bikers.

Franklin is a simple guy living in the ghetto. He has a girlfriend and a friend who is preoccupied with gang wars. All three heroes unite and, in their thirst for profit, organize robberies, around which the main, very good, plot revolves.

The game has undergone many changes. Everything that GTASA players loved so much has returned to it. Lots of activities and sub-missions, a huge world, attention to detail from the developers and a huge arsenal of weapons.

GTA V became the game of the year, the best game in the series and the best-selling game in history.

GTA V

IN at the moment Rockstar is a thriving development company with many studios around the world producing high quality games. By the way, two sequels to the best series are currently in development - GTA VI and Red Dead Redemption 2.

This is the path the studio has taken over more than 20 years.

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This story is about "Rock Stars" who do not perform on stage, but are the idols of millions of players around the world, it's time to enjoy the exciting story of the development of Rockstar Games.

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Having launched a series of articles about the largest game publishers, we had no idea that visitors GameGuru it will generate SO much interest. Behind the numerous comments, one could increasingly see requests to write the history of development companies such as Blizzard, Valve, Rockstar. It’s impossible not to follow the lead when there are so many people around. The company was the first to block the way to genuine publishers Blizzard. You can already read her story.

And now, for all those who have been eager to learn about the “Rock Stars” who do not perform on stage, but are the idols of millions of players around the world, it’s time to enjoy the exciting history of the company’s development Rockstar Games.

Large gaming family

As it turned out after writing this material, with Rockstar Games everything is much more complicated than it seemed at first glance. The company is owned Take-Two Interactive, but at the same time owns nine branches scattered in different parts of our beautiful planet. In this article, we decided to combine all the information into a single whole, without fully imagining what would come of it. The fears were in vain, because everything turned out very tasty. Let's get comfortable (whatever you're sitting on) and enjoy the success story Rockstar.

Now let's flash forward 13 years ago. It was then, in 1998, that it was founded Rockstar Games. Among the projects published by the company are: , and other “inconspicuous” titles, including the recent L.A. Noire. Now a little geography. Located Rockstar Games in the heart of the USA - New York. This completes the geography course, and with it a small introductory part; thank you for your attention. All? You won't wait. Now the fun begins.

North wind...

One of the oldest branches Rockstar Games is notorious Rockstar North- the creators of everyone's favorite series. Among other existing studios, this subsidiary campaign is rightfully the main one. Year of foundation Rockstar North It was distant 1988. About no Rockstar there was no talk then.

The founders of the studio represented by David Jones(David Jones) Russell Kay(Russell Kay) Mike Dailly(Mike Daily) and Steve Hammond(Steve Hammond) decided to settle on a mysterious name DMA. Those three capital letters meant absolutely nothing. They just caught the eye of one of the guys in the documentation for the Amiga personal computer, after which a new star (not yet “rock”) lit up on the horizon of the gaming industry. Later the abbreviation will be deciphered: Direct Mind Access, again, does not convey the essence of the company’s activities. And who cares about the name when all the employees are exclusively busy creating their first games.

The newly minted developers immediately attracted attention by creating projects with truly exciting gameplay. In 1988, a scrolling shooter with the intriguing title “Menace” was released. A year later, another game of the above-mentioned genre was released - the sci-fi Blood Money. The project received a crazy rating from Zzap!64 magazine - 94%. The first creations DMA were released on PC (MS-DOS), favored by the developers of the Amiga, Commodore 64 and Atari ST. Having successfully completed the 80s, the no less exciting 90s began.

From animals to killers

The release took place on February 14, 1991. To say that this game was popular is to say nothing. According to Wikipedia, the puzzle has sold about 20 (!) million copies. Initially, the project was released for one platform - the Commodore Amiga. However, having gained wild popularity on it, it was ported to everything possible. Today it won’t be difficult to find a version even for PSP or PlayStation 3. After this, the developers’ plans for this title changed dramatically.

Getting the most out of the brand is the main task facing DMA. There is no other way to explain the appearance over the next four years of such games as: Christmas Lemmings 1993, Lemmings 2: The Tribes, All New World of Lemmings, Lemmings 1994. A few years later, interest in the puzzle began to decline, which means the company had to switch to new games. By the way, during the period of “lemmingomania” the guys worked on other creations: Walker (another scrolling shooter) and Hired Guns (RPG). Both were warmly received by the public.

The exit was a turning point not only for DMA, but also for the entire gaming industry. Unprecedented freedom in the gaming world and cruelty that definitely went beyond what was permitted created a lot of noise. All this only played into the hands of the publisher and developers, and both versions (PC and PlayStation) instantly became bestsellers. The story of a bandit and car thief, mercilessly crushing pedestrians and dealing with opponents, becomes a new benchmark for other game creators. Many diverse missions, including additional earnings for the main character by driving a taxi, ambulance or fire truck, could not help but become the “features” of the game. The view from above looked very nice at that time, and the profit from sales made DMA Roll up your sleeves and start creating Grand Theft Auto 2.

Change partner

The end of the nineties was a truly busy period. This was primarily due to a change in publishing houses. In 1997 he bought the company Gremlin Interactive, but after two years it is locked. The developers come under the wing of the French publisher - Infogrames, but here, too, fruitful and long-term cooperation did not work out. In 1999, a sequel was published, the publisher of which is listed as Rockstar Games. In turn Rockstar Games was (and remains to this day) property Take-Two. It was this period that predetermined the future DMA.

The sequel inherited all the best from the first part, certainly delighting with many interesting innovations. For example, a multi-user mode appeared. In a fictional city in the near future, the main character Claude Speed ​​faces dangerous criminal adventures, and all of them, one way or another, are connected with various groups, of which there are seven in the game, among which is the Russian Mafia. The territory is divided into three huge regions, but before getting to the second or third, it was necessary to collect a specific amount. So, in order to leave the first location, a prerequisite was the presence of at least one million dollars in the protagonist’s “piggy bank”.

GTA 3 and Rockstar hugs

As time will tell, the third part will become a true revolution in the gaming industry, turning out to be the main bestseller among all (!) video games in 2001 in the United States. Liberty City, strongly reminiscent of New York, was distinguished by incredible detail for those times. This city was in full swing around the clock, the nameless protagonist, who escaped from prison, became respected before our eyes. crime boss, starting his career with a simple “six”. Gang wars, racketeering, drugs, prostitution and huge sums at stake - all this DMA succinctly tied into interesting story with fun missions. The series' move to 3D and all of the above again sets a new bar for all game developers. I want to call it not just a brilliant game, but something more. For example, a new benchmark for sandbox projects, against which all others should be compared. By the way, metacritic.com, based on 20 reviews, gave the game “only” 93 points out of 100.

After success Rockstar Games acquires a development studio, making DMA your property. In 2002, the world forgets about DMA and learns about the new brand - Rockstar North. From now on, the “northern” division works exclusively on its criminal universe, occasionally being distracted by projects like and. Porting games to “bonus platforms” is carried out by developers from Rockstar Vienna(closed in 2006) and Rockstar Leeds. Before the release (a review of which you can read here), we enjoyed and. Both projects were highly praised by the gaming press and gamers themselves.

The next revolution in the world of sandbox games came with the release of . The opinion of the author of this article does not coincide with the opinion of the author of the review and his final assessment. There is not enough space to list all the advantages of the fourth part, and this is not what our material is about, but it is worth noting that the charismatic Niko Belik, unlike the hero of the third part, is very colorful. He reveals his past in dialogues and shares plans for the future, helping his brother Roman (a would-be entrepreneur) make the American dream come true. This masterpiece should be in the collection of every self-respecting player. And, of course, we are not talking about any 49% for the plot.

The other side

Before closing in 2006 Rockstar Vienna under the wing Rockstar Games there were ten studios. Since most of this material is devoted to the main one, let’s briefly go over all the others.
In English Rockstar Lincoln undergoing testing and translation of projects released under the brand Rockstar Games. Previously the company was named as Tarantula Studios, and the guys' portfolio includes the first and second parts ported for the Game Boy Color. Founded in 1997, owned by Rock Stars Tarantula Studios became in 2002. What else interesting can you say about them? Probably nothing.

Another thing - Rockstar Vancouver. Judging by the name, it won’t be difficult to guess the geographical location of the studio. Canadian developers have managed to establish themselves exclusively with the best side, after all, many of you played “school sanbox”? Yes, yes, where the main character with hemp solves his (and other people’s) problems mainly with his fists, from time to time attending boring lessons, where various mini-games await us. According to rumors, the guys from Rockstar Vancouver We are currently busy creating the second part. They are working on a project, the release of which has clearly been delayed. By the way, from 1998 to 2002 the studio was called as Barking Dog Studios, and its founder is Brian Tolken(Brian Thalken) - comes from Radical Entertainment. However, Vancouver-based Rock Stars is far from the only Canadian studio. In the same country (in Oakville, Ontario) is located Rockstar Toronto. The main task of the division is to port games to Wii and help others Rockstar studios in developing projects. So, in their track record it is worth highlighting: the PC version and episodes of Liberty City.

Rockstar New England(nee Mad Doc Software) appeared not so long ago - in 2008. The previously independent studio managed to distinguish itself with its own projects: Star Trek: Armada 2, and . And if Mad Doc Software created their games mainly for Microsoft Windows, then Mobius Entertainment(now Rockstar Leeds) worked exclusively on the Game Boy Advance platform. Now, under the wing of “Rock Stars”, the main task of the guys is to create and port games for PlayStation Portable and iOS. Together with Rockstar North was created

The company develops video games and in some cases acts as a publisher of games for other studios. Headquartered in New York, Rockstar Games is the parent company and has been wholly owned since 1998. Before it was acquired it had a name BMG Interactive.

A small list of those games that are the most popular: the GTA series of games, Max Payne, Midnight Club, etc. The company mainly makes third-person and open-world games.

Rockstar includes 10 studios scattered across different parts of the world. The most legendary and important studio for the company is Rockstar North.

List of all Rockstar Games studios

• Rockstar Toronto
• Rockstar Lincoln
• Rockstar London
• Rockstar Japan
• Rockstar Vancouver
• Rockstar New England

Key Persons

The heads of the company since its founding have been brothers Sam and Dan Houser, who hold the positions of president and vice president.

Main headquarters

The headquarters of Rockstar Games (also known as Rockstar NYC) is located on Broadway in the SoHo area of ​​New York City, in part of the Take-Two building. This office is home to Rockstar's marketing, public relations and product development departments.

External developments

• The Edge of Reality studio developed the game Monster Truck Madness 64, which Rockstar Games later became the publisher.
• Z-Axis studio creates the game Thrasher presents Skate and Destroy, and Rockstar has once again published the game.
• Bungie studio created a game called Oni for Windows and Macintosh operating systems, Rockstar completely ported the game to PS2. After which Microsoft bought the Bungie studio, the Halo game is being created, Rockstar became the publisher in this matter.
• Red Dead Revolver, developed by Rockstar San Diego in collaboration with Capcom, is being distributed in Japan in exchange for the rights to distribute the GTA game series in Japan.
• Backbone Entertainment studio is collaborating with Rockstar North on development.
• Remedy Entertainment is developing Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, in which Rockstar is involved as publisher. After which Rockstar Games acquires the rights to the game Max Payne.
• Australian independent studio Team Bondi is creating LA Noire in collaboration with Rockstar, which subsequently publishes the game.
• War Drum Studios ports Grand games Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Max Payne on iOS and Android smartphones/

Video about history

The story about the incredible success of a company called Rockstar is waiting for you under the cut.

Back in 1998 (or for some, not) Rockstar Games was founded by 5 friends - that’s where it all began. As some of you know, Rockstar owns as many as 10 branches.

Rockstar North

The oldest of the branches is Rockstar North, which, by the way, is also the most famous, because the famous GTA series developed here.

Founded Rockstar North, which, of course, was not called that at first (the original name was DMA) in 1988, at that time there was no talk of Rockstar. The studio's founders, David Jones, Russell Kaye, Mike Dailly and Steve Hammond, later explained that these mysterious letters It’s not an abbreviation, just a consonant combination. As a joke, the DMA developers once said that the name still has a logical explanation - “Doesn’t Mean Anything.”

In 1988, DMA signed a contract with British publisher Psygnosis and achieved success with their two games, Menace and Blood Money, space shooters that attracted the attention of gamers and critics, thanks to high quality execution. Like all of the company's early games, Menace and Blood Money debuted on the Amiga, but later saw ports on the Commodore 64, DOS, and Atari ST.

Screenshot of "Menace"

The real DMA breakthrough came in the 1990s with the release of the game Lemmings, which sold more than 20 million copies in 21 different system(from Amiga to NES and Apple Macintosh). For the next five years, DMA created various sequels to the successful Lemmings - About hNo! More Lemmings, Lemmings 2: The Tribes, All New World of Lemmings? two Christmas editions Holiday Lemmings, DMA also released two new games: Walker (a well-received robot shooter) and Hired Guns (a first-person strategy game). DMA was not involved in the development of other games based on Lemmings (Lemmings Paintball and Lemmings 3D).

Before DMA joined Rockstar, David Jones left the company and created a new studio, Rage Software, which was soon renamed Real Time Worlds.

In 1997, the company was purchased by British studio Gremlin Interactive, and Jones became chief creative officer of both companies. The company released two projects under the Gremlin label - Body Harvest and the PC version of “Wild Metal Country” (a tank arcade game with very realistic physics). However, after Gremlin closed in 1999, the studio was purchased by the French publisher Infogrames. Difficulties were created by the agreement between DMA and BMG Interactive, which published Grand Theft Auto (which changed the entire gaming industry with unprecedented cruelty and an open world).

Grand Theft Auto (part one)

BMG Interactive became Rockstar Games, part of Take-Two. Newly minted Rockstar company, having seen what popularity is, releases “GTA 2” for PC, PlayStation and Dreamcast.

The sequel turned out to be really cool - the sequel not only “absorbed” everything that made the first GTA loved, but also introduced many significant innovations.

Grand Theft Auto 3

GTA 3, released in October 2001, became a bestseller. I think many of you remember this wonderful game. Who hasn't ridden through what at the time seemed like incredibly detailed streets of Liberty City?

The new part moved into the 3D dimension, thereby making another revolution in terms of video games. The graphics, which seem backward to us now, were unimaginable at the time, and the presence of violence was something new.

In December 2011, in honor of its 10th anniversary, the game was ported to mobile platforms (first to iOS and then to Android).

Let me remind you that the events of the game take place in the city of Liberty City, which was specially created to look like New York. It is there that you need to help the main character, who escaped from prison, “unwind” and gain authority, completing missions along the way.

Critics, as well as players, received the game well - it won top marks in all ratings.

I will end my article on this positive note.
Since the history of the development of Rockstar is very voluminous - in order not to burden you with reading a large text, I decided to divide the article into.