Background of Rockstar
Rockstar Games is a video game developer and publisher based in New York City. It’s owned by Take-Two interactive following their purchase of UK video game publisher BMG interactive.
Rockstar Studios
Rockstar Japan – 2005-Present
Rockstar Leeds – 2004-Present
Rockstar Lincoln – 1999-Present
Rockstar London – 2005-Present
Rockstar New England – 2008-Present
Rockstar North – 1999-Present
Rockstar San Diego – 2003-Present
Rockstar Toronto – 1999-Present
Rockstar Vancouver – 2002-Present
Rockstar Vienna – 2003-2006
What other titles are Rockstar famous for?
Grand Theft Auto
Midnight Club
Manhunt
Red Dead
Max Payne
Bully
LA Noire
The Warriors
What has been their most successful game?
Grand Theft Auto IV
What controversies have surround Rockstar in the past?
In a letter to Wendy's CEO Kerrii Anderson, Thompson demanded that the restaurant drop an upcoming promotion featuring children's toys designed after the Wii games Excite Truck, Wii Sports and Super Mario Galaxy because Manhunt 2 was scheduled for release on the console. An excerpt from Thompson's letter states: "Dave Thomas never would have tolerated the use of Wendy’s good name to promote Nintendo’s Wii, not with this game available on the Wii platform." Particular controversy was repeatedly heaped upon the Wii version of the game due to the console's highly immersive nature, with certain gaming sites that had a hands-on preview of the game reporting that Manhunt 2 used the Wii Remote in an interactive manner; for instance, in order to stab someone in the game the player would have to flick the Wii Remote forward, in much the same fashion one would do when actually stabbing with a knife.
A method that removed the game's censoring code of the M rated PSP and PS2 version thus restoring parts of the AO state was released by a group of PSP crackers. ESRB commented on this crack stating that it was not Rockstar's fault that this occurred and stuck with the M rating. Later, it was discovered the same method also works on the Wii version of the game.
In September 2007, an uncensored PAL PS2 copy of the game was leaked onto the internet by an employee of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, who was later fired.
In 2009, a fully uncensored version carrying an AO rating was officially released for PC download from Direct2Drive. However, the game was later removed from the service after Direct2Drive was acquired by Gamefly, due to Gamefly's policy of not carrying AO-rated games.
What has made them so successful?
Rockstar’s success comes from the popularity of their games, and their established name as a games developer.
How is Havok developed, and what is its importance?
Havok Physics is a physics engine developed by Irish company Havok. It is designed primarily for video games, and allows for real-time collision and dynamics of rigid bodies in three dimensions. It provides multiple types of dynamic constraints between rigid bodies (e.g. for ragdoll physics), and has a highly optimized collision detection library. By using dynamical simulation, Havok allows for more realistic virtual worlds in games. The company has also released the product Havok Animation, which provides efficient playback and compression of character animations in games, and features such as inverse kinematics.
As a leading developer of games technologies, Havok has over 12 years of experience servicing the most demanding technical requirements for leading customers in the commercial games and entertainment industry. Havok’s combination of superior technology and dedication to delivering industry leading support to its customers has led to the company’s technologies being used in over 500 of the best known and award-winning titles including Uncharted 3, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, and L.A. Noire.
Havok works in partnership with the world’s best known publishers, developer studios and developer teams, including Microsoft Games Studios®, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., THQ®, Ubisoft®, Rockstar, EA, Bethesda, Insomniac, Relic, Bungie, and Naughty Dog, Guerrilla. Havok’s cross-platform, professionally supported technology is available for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, PC Games for Windows, PlayStation Vita®, Wii™, Nintendo® 3DS, Android™, iOS, Apple Mac OS and Linux.
How is Rockstar an example of vertical integration?
Rockstar has bought out smaller companies that handle different points of the development process, meaning they have full control of the process, from early development to marketing.
What is the oligopoly of the games industry, and what does it mean for Rockstar?
The games industry is controlled by three major console producers, Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, although arguably PC games are becoming more and more popular. For Rockstar, this means that they can get more sales by having their games available on all consoles, but it also means that production time will be increased to make sure the games are compatible on all consoles.
