Take-Two Interactive's TTWO key Rockstar Games division has purchased a video game developer, Ruffian Games, and rebranded it as Rockstar Dundee, per TheGamer report. Brianna Reeves Wednesday, October 14, 2020 A couple of days ago, reports made the rounds that Rockstar Games had acquired Crackdown 2 developer Ruffian Games. [26], The company acquired the Scottish studio Ruffian Games in October 2020, rebranding the studio as Rockstar Dundee. We already know what is the recently discovered Rockstar Dundee. Take-Two Interactive's (NASDAQ:TTWO) key Rockstar Games subsidiary has made an acquisition across the Atlantic Ocean. Based in Dundee, Scotland, the studio will operate under the new name of Rockstar Dundee. Rockstar Games® is proud to announce that it has acquired Ruffian Games. [2][22] Simon Ramsey is the company's head of PR and communications. Rockstar Games has added UK studio Ruffian Games to its ever-expanding portfolio, rebranding its latest acquisition "Rockstar Dundee," after the Scottish developer's home city. In a memo to investors, Codemasters confirmed that it's considering a potential sale to Take-Two Interactive, owner of Rockstar Games and 2K … [27], 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 our DNA to avoid doing what other companies are doing [...] the goalpoint of Rockstar is to have the players really feel what we're trying to do. Sam Houser heads the studio as president. [20][21] Jennifer Kolbe, who started at the front desk of Take-Two, acts as Rockstar Games' head of publishing and oversees all development studios. Rockstar Games appears to have purchased Crackdown 2 developer Ruffian Games, taking the studio under its wing and rebranding it as Rockstar Dundee.. "We are thrilled to have Ruffian join the Rockstar Games family," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. Rockstar Games has officially confirmed its acquisition of Crackdown 2 developer, Ruffian Games and rebranded it ‘Rockstar Dundee’.. The Scottish team from Dundee has been behind massive projects such as Crackdown 2. As spotted by TheGamer, the acquisition appears to … The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. In fact, Take-Two has made no statement at all regarding the acquisition. Rockstar Games has officially aquired Ruffian Games, with an announcement leaked through documents in the UK. The name derives from Dundee, the Scottish city where the unit is based. [15][16], As of February 2014, Rockstar Games titles have shipped more than 250 million copies,[17] the largest franchise being the Grand Theft Auto series, which alone has shipments of at least 250 million as of November 2016. Founded in 1993 by brothers Tom and David Gardner, The Motley Fool helps millions of people attain financial freedom through our website, podcasts, books, newspaper column, radio show, and premium investing services. The studio, which is based in Dundee, Scotland, will operate under the new name of Rockstar Dundee. The Ascent is The Motley Fool's new personal finance brand devoted to helping you live a richer life. In exchange, Take-Two was to issue 1.85 million shares (around 16%) of its common stock to BMG Entertainment. Cue the acquisition of Ruffian Games which Rockstar just confirmed but while remaining mum on the actual financial details regarding the transaction. [8] In December 1998, the Houser brothers, Donovan and King established Rockstar Games as the "high-end" publishing label of Take-Two. Founding members of the company were Sam and Dan Houser, Terry Donovan and Jamie King, who worked for Take-Two at the time, and of which the Houser brothers were previously executives at BMG Interactive. On March 12, 1998, Take-Two Interactive announced its acquisition of the assets of dormant British video game publisher BMG Interactive from BMG Entertainment (a unit of Bertelsmann). It is unknown how much Take-Two has paid for the Scottish business. [23][24], In September 2019, Rockstar Games announced that they had released their own game launcher, a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications service. We didn't rely on testimonials in a business textbook to do what we've done. Not even a month ago, Take-Two subsidiary Rockstar Games confirmed its recent acquisition of Crackdown 2 developer, Ruffian Games. PepsiCo has reached a deal to buy the Rockstar energy drink maker for $3.85 billion, the food and beverage giant said Wednesday. The acquisition seems to have gone through on 1st October, with everything confirmed by the 6th, according to the Companies House Listing. [2], Since 1999, several companies acquired by or established under Take-Two have become part of Rockstar Games, such as Rockstar Canada (later renamed Rockstar Toronto) becoming the first one in 1999, and Rockstar Dundee the most recent in 2020. TheGamer noted that previously Ruffian Games had been working on a number of undisclosed "upcoming titles" for Rockstar last year so it's a natural next step that an acquisition … Rockstar Games recently acquired Ruffian Games and re-branded them as Rockstar Dundee. Rockstar Games officially acquired Ruffian Games this week. Last week, it was announced that Rockstar Games had acquired developer, Ruffian Games, rebranding it as Rockstar Dundee. Grand Theft Auto publisher Rockstar Games has acquired UK-based studio Ruffian Games and rebranded the studio as Rockstar Dundee. 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 most recent game in the series, Grand Theft Auto V, has shipped over 135 million copies since its release in September 2013, making it one of the best-selling video games of all time. Rockstar Games should … Where multiple Rockstar studios headed development efforts for a game, "Rockstar Studios" is named as the developer. Since it was a privately held, independent business, Ruffian Games did not disclose its finances. Over the course of a varied career, he has also been a radio newscaster, an investment banker, and a bass player in a selection of rock and roll bands. Rockstar Games officially acquired Ruffian Games this week. [25] After having taken an extended break following the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 in early 2019, Dan Houser left Rockstar Games on March 11, 2020. "[30], The company has been involved with charitable work ranging from supporting Movember and offering appearances in games as a raffle prize, to charity live streams.[31][32]. The name is … Rockstar Games has acquired Crackdown 2 developer Ruffian Games, and rebranded the studio as Rockstar Dundee. This acquisition will result in Ruffian Games being rebranded as Rockstar Dundee. "As we work to be more consumer-centric and capitalize on rising demand in the functional beverage space, this highly strategic acquisition will enable us to leverage PepsiCo's capabilities to both accelerate Rockstar's performance and unlock our ability to expand in the category with existing brands such as Mountain Dew," said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO, Ramon Laguarta. Rockstar Games didn't disclose the acquisition's terms in the press release; however, they confirmed Ruffian Games would operate under a new name: Rockstar Dundee. Rockstar's website only refers to operations in New York; London; Paris; and Bogota, Colombia, at present. The launcher integrates with the user's Social Club account, allowing them to download and buy games that they have previously purchased through Rockstar's store, as well as launch Rockstar games available from other services, like Steam, from the launcher. According to a report on TheGamer.com citing regulatory documents, Rockstar has purchased video game developer Ruffian Games and rebranded it as Rockstar Dundee. Stock Advisor launched in February of 2002. The name is used by the creators of Crackdown 2 from Ruffian Games - the latest acquisition of Rockstar Games. Through this acquisition, Take-Two obtained several of BMG Interactive's former intellectual properties, including DMA Design's Grand Theft Auto and Space Station Silicon Valley. The deal was announced to have closed on … The original story continues below.] Some major gaming news to report as Rockstar Games have announced they have acquired Ruffian Games. Rockstar Games Social Club is an online gaming service created by Rockstar Games for authentication and multiplayer applications within their games. [...] If we make the sort of games we want to play, then we believe people are going to buy them. Ruffian Games are best known for their close work directly with Microsoft which saw them on Halo: Master Chief Collection as well as their original Crackdown franchise. Let's conquer your financial goals together...faster. Based in Dundee, Scotland , the studio will operate under the new name of Rockstar Dundee. Sign in with Social Club. Keep me signed in [3][4] Through this acquisition, Take-Two obtained several of BMG Interactive's former intellectual properties, including DMA Design's Grand Theft Auto and Space Station Silicon Valley. On March 12, 1998, Take-Two Interactive announced its acquisition of the assets of dormant British video game publisher BMG Interactive from BMG Entertainment (a unit of Bertelsmann). Ruffian is … Other popular franchises published by Rockstar Games are Red Dead, Midnight Club, Max Payne and Manhunt. Rockstar Games has acquired Crackdown 2 developer Ruffian Games, and rebranded the studio as Rockstar Dundee. Dedicated quality assurance and localization house for games published by Rockstar Games. [5] In a restructuring announced that April, Sam Houser was appointed as Take-Two's "vice president of worldwide product development". Take-Two Interactive's (NASDAQ:TTWO) key Rockstar Games subsidiary has made an acquisition across the Atlantic Ocean. Take-Two/Rockstar is well familiar with its new unit. Update: Rockstar has now confirmed its acquisition of Ruffian Games in a Take-Two report that's available online. More recently, Take-Two created the Private Division label to support publishing from independent developers, and acquired the developer Socialpoint to establish itself in the mobile game … Update 14/10 13:13 – Rockstar has now confirmed the acquisition of Ruffian Games and the rebranding of the developer as Rockstar Dundee. [5][9][10][11] The formation was formally announced on January 22, 1999. The 40-person team will be assisting the rest of Rockstar Games … The terms of the acquisition … Buoyed by a strong lineup of games and an audience spending far more time at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, Take-Two has done well both in fundamentals and stock price over the past few months. The terms of the acquisition have not yet been made public. All companies organized under Rockstar Games bear the "Rockstar" name and logo. Of the acquisition, Rockstar Games founder Sam Houser said: “We are thrilled to have Ruffian join the Rockstar Games family. Rockstar confirms Ruffian Games acquisition and ‘future projects’. Gary Liddon and Billy Thomson, head and creative director of the studio, will continue to lead the developer. Rockstar Games also sports a motion capture studio in Bethpage, New York.[2]. “We are thrilled to have Ruffian join the Rockstar Games family,” said Sam Houser, Rockstar Games founder. Update 11/10/2020: Take-Two has announced that it's reached an agreement to acquire Codemasters in a cash-and-shares deal, valuing the UK developer/publisher at $994 … As spotted by TheGamer, the acquisition appears to … Rockstar Dundee Rockstar Dundee is a game development company. Rockstar Games® is proud to announce that it has acquired Ruffian Games. [18] Grand Theft Auto V shipped the highest number of units within the series' and the company's history, with over 135 million copies, becoming one of the bestselling video games of all time. Rockstar Games operates nine studios and an international publishing subsidiary. The company owns two major publishing labels, Rockstar Games and 2K, which operate internal game development studios. Take-Two Interactive, is currently in talks to acquire Codemasters, the developers behind the Dirt, F1, and Project Cars racing franchises. Take-Two Interactive 's TTWO key Rockstar Games division has purchased a video game developer, Ruffian Games, and rebranded it as Rockstar Dundee, per TheGamer report. The Scottish developer was founded in 2008 and has worked on a number of video games, with the Xbox first-person shooter Crackdown 2 (released in 2010) being one of its better known titles. English. According to recent document filings, Take-Two Interactive subsidiary Rockstar Games has purchased majority stake in Ruffian Games via an acquisition takeover. Rockstar Games ® is proud to announce that it has acquired Ruffian Games. “The Ruffian team are a talented addition to Rockstar’s global studios, and we look forward to working together on future projects.” The name is … The international publishing headquarters for Rockstar Games. Take-Two Interactive 's (TTWO - Free Report) key Rockstar Games division has purchased a video game developer, Ruffian Games, and rebranded it as … The official home of Rockstar Games. Rockstar Games predominantly publishes games in the action-adventure genre, while racing games also saw success for the company. Based in Dundee, Scotland, the studio will operate under the new name of Rockstar Dundee. Rockstar Games Acquires Ruffian Games October 14, 2020 NEW YORK --(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 14, 2020-- Rockstar Games ® is proud to announce that it has acquired Ruffian Games. In this context, Rockstar Games is sometimes also referred to as Rockstar New York, Rockstar NY or Rockstar NYC. On Monday, Take-Two's shares rose by 3.4%, trouncing the broader stock market. [35], Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – The Introduction, Red Dead Redemption: The Man from Blackwater, "Analyst expects Houser brothers to receive bulk of $538m Red Dead royalties", "How the West Was Digitized: The making of Rockstar Games', "BMG Interactive Acquired by Take-Two Interactive", "GTA, Rockstar co-founding brothers squeeze into Britain's 1,000 richest people list with £90 million", "Grand Theft Auto's Reclusive Genius Sam Houser Can't Get Away", "Rockstar titles have now shipped 250 million copies to date", "Grand Theft Auto life-time sales hit 250 million, GTA 5 and GTA Online ships 70 million units", "Grand Theft Auto V hits 135 million sold as spending surges during pandemic", "Rockstar Games to receive BAFTA Fellowship award", "Inside Rockstar Games' Culture Of Crunch", "Rockstar acquires Dhruva Interactive from Starbreeze for $7.9m", "Starbreeze has closed the transaction of Indian subsidiary Dhruva", "Rockstar has its own game launcher, and GTA: San Andreas is free", "Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser leaving the company", "Rockstar has taken over Master Chief Collection developer Ruffian Games", "Rockstar: Make Good Games and the Money Will Follow - The Escapist", "Rockstar Games Purposefully Avoiding First Person Shooters", "Rockstar Assures Gamers that the Studio's Priority is "Doing New Things, "Rockstar offers game appearance prize for charity", "ROCKSTAR INTERNATIONAL LIMITED - Overview (free company information from Companies House)", "Inside Rockstar North – Part 2: The Studio", "Rockstar Games now has its own game launcher on PC", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rockstar_Games&oldid=992002201, Software companies based in New York City, Take-Two Interactive divisions and subsidiaries, Video game companies of the United States, Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments, Wikipedia pages semi-protected against vandalism, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. The official home of Rockstar Games. [5][6] The deal was announced to have closed on March 25. Similarly, Ruffian Games has made no official comment about the deal. Eric has been writing about stocks and finance since the mid-1990s, when he lived in Prague, Czech Republic. Update: Take-Two has officially announced Rockstar's acquisition of Ruffian Games and the studio's rebranding as Rockstar Dundee (a reference to Ruffian being located in … Take-Two Interactive's (NASDAQ:TTWO) key Rockstar Games subsidiary has made an acquisition across the Atlantic Ocean. [13] He was succeeded by Gary Dale, who became chief operating officer. [14] 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. [12], In January 2007, Take-Two announced that Donovan, until then managing director for Rockstar Games, had left the company following a four-month leave of absence. Acquiring Organization: Rockstar Games Rockstar Games is a multinational video game development and publishing company. "[28][29] 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. According to recent document filings, Take-Two Interactive subsidiary Rockstar Games has purchased majority stake in Ruffian Games via an acquisition takeover. The name is … The Scotland-based studio now goes by Rockstar … If the deal … Located in the same offices as Rockstar London. Developed by the creators of Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2 is an … 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. [7] Three BMG Interactive executives—Sam Houser, Dan Houser, and Jamie King—as well as Terry Donovan of BMG Entertainment's Arista Records record label, subsequently moved to New York City to work for Take-Two Interactive. The studio, which is based in Dundee, Scotland, will operate under the new name of Rockstar Dundee. A native New Yorker, he currently lives in Los Angeles. Based in Dundee, Scotland, the studio will operate under the new name of Rockstar Dundee. Returns as of 12/05/2020. What Rockstar Dundee are … [22], In May 2019, Rockstar Games announced that they were acquiring Dhruva Interactive from Starbreeze Studios for $7.9 million, with the sale being finalized later that month and the Dhruva team merged into Rockstar India. Rockstar Games has confirmed everything, officially announcing that Ruffian Games will … Market data powered by FactSet and Web Financial Group. In exchange, Take-Two was to issue 1.85 million shares (around 16%) of its common stock to BMG Entertainment. Email Password. Rockstar and 2K Games released a statement to make official the developers' purchase based in Dundee, Scotland. English Deutsch Français Italiano 日本語 Pусский Español (España) Español (México) Português 한국어 中文（简体） 中文（繁體） Polski [Rockstar Games has since confirmed its acquisition of Ruffian Games in a press release, confirming the Rockstar Dundee studio's formation and name. Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. Take-Two Interactive's TTWO key Rockstar Games division has purchased a video game developer, Ruffian Games, and rebranded it as Rockstar Dundee, per TheGamer report. Cumulative Growth of a $10,000 Investment in Stock Advisor, Report: Take-Two Interactive Acquires "Crackdown 2" Developer Ruffian Games @themotleyfool #stocks $TTWO, How Take-Two Plans to Maintain Its Momentum In the Next Console Cycle, Take-Two Interactive Is Skeptical About Microsoft's Gaming Subscription Service, Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) Q2 2021 Earnings Call Transcript, 3 Top Video Game Stocks to Buy in November, Copyright, Trademark and Patent Information. Based in Dundee, Scotland, the studio will operate under the new name of Rockstar Dundee. Red Dead Redemption 2. The acquisition has been confirmed and Ruffian Games has joined Rockstar Games and been renamed Rockstar Dundee. The terms of the acquisition … Rockstar Games released its own games launcher for Microsoft Windows on September 17, 2019. This page was last edited on 2 December 2020, at 23:33. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Rockstar Games ® is proud to announce that it has acquired Ruffian Games. Terms of the acquisition … Under its old name, the developer had collaborated over the past year with the Americans on several titles, including recent iterations of the durably popular Grand Theft Auto. [19], 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". Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City and founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The companies celebrated their new relationship and confirmed they would collaborate on various projects in the future. See you at the top! Rockstar Games has this week announced the acquisition of British game studio Ruffian Games. Rockstar Games Acquires Crackdown 2 Devs.