Rockstar Toronto

Last updated

Rockstar Games Toronto ULC
Rockstar Toronto
Formerly
  • Imagexcel (198?–1995)
  • Alternative Reality Technologies(1995–1999)
  • Rockstar Canada (1999–2002)
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Video games
FoundedEarly 1980s
Headquarters,
Canada
Key people
Kevin Hoare (studio director)
Parent

Rockstar Toronto (Rockstar Games Toronto ULC; formerly Imagexcel, Alternative Reality Technologies, and Rockstar Canada) is a Canadian video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Oakville, Ontario. The company was established as Imagexcel in the early 1980s and developed more than fifteen games under that name, including Quarantine , which was published by GameTek in 1994. The publisher bought the studio's assets through its Alternative Reality Technologies subsidiary in March 1995 and then sold Alternative Reality Technologies to Take-Two Interactive in July 1997. The studio became part of Take-Two's Rockstar Games label as Rockstar Canada in 1999 and was renamed Rockstar Toronto in 2002 when Take-Two acquired Rockstar Vancouver. Under Rockstar Games, the studio developed the 2005 game The Warriors , based on the 1979 film of the same name, as well as several ports, including the Windows versions of Grand Theft Auto IV , Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City , Max Payne 3 , and Grand Theft Auto V . In July 2012, Rockstar Vancouver was merged into Rockstar Toronto, which then moved into larger offices.

Contents

History

Rockstar Toronto was established as Imagexcel in the early 1980s, "before the time of He-Man". [1] [2] The studio developed roughly fifteen games across multiple systems until 1995. [1] It began developing a proprietary game engine in 1993, as well as a complementary game in collaboration with GameTek in December that year. Rod Humble, as GameTek's executive producer, initially wrote a script titled Bloods that revolved around gang warfare. When the company sent a revision thereof to Imagexcel, the studio reworked the concept into what became Quarantine . Humble considered the new version a "far superior game". [3] In October 1994, Imagexcel comprised programmer and managing partner Kevin Hoare, programmers Ed Zolnieryk and Andy Brownbill, and artists Greg Bick and Ray Larabie. [1] [3] GameTek released the game in the same month. [3] On 9 March 1995, the publisher announced its acquisition of Imagexcel's assets through a newly founded subsidiary, Alternative Reality Technologies. The transaction included Quarantine's engine, which GameTek intended to use in other games. Hoare, Zolnieryk, Bick, and Larabie formed the core of GameTek's Canadian development operations. [1] [4] After the acquisition, the studio was also referred to as GameTek Canada. [5]

Take-Two Interactive bought several assets from GameTek in July 1997, including Alternative Reality Technologies, GameTek's European offices, and distribution rights for games including Dark Colony . [6] The Alternative Reality Technologies team became part of Take-Two's Rockstar Games label in 1999 as Rockstar Canada. [7] The studio then created two expansion packs for the 1997 game Grand Theft Auto : London 1969 and London 1961 , both released in 1999. [8] It developed ports of Rockstar Games' Oni and Max Payne for the PlayStation 2 that were released in 2001. [9] [10] When Take-Two acquired Barking Dog Studios and renamed it Rockstar Vancouver in August 2002, Rockstar Canada was renamed Rockstar Toronto to avert confusion between the two. [11] At the same time, Take-Two announced that Rockstar Toronto was working on a video game adaptation of the 1979 film The Warriors . [12] The eponymous game was first shown at E3 2005 before being released in October that year. [13] [14] A spiritual successor, internally known as We Are the Mods, was planned at the time. [15] [16] After The Warriors, Rockstar Toronto developed further ports: It brought Manhunt 2 and Bully: Scholarship Edition to the Wii, [17] [18] and Grand Theft Auto IV , Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City , and Max Payne 3 to Windows. [19] [20]

In July 2012, Rockstar Games announced Rockstar Toronto would be moving into larger, custom-built offices within Oakville, Ontario. Rockstar Vancouver was merged into Rockstar Toronto and the former's thirty-five employees were given the option to relocate to Rockstar Toronto or any other Rockstar Games studio. [21] [22] The Government of Ontario contributed CA$2 million to this expansion. [23] Jennifer Kolbe, Rockstar Games' vice-president of publishing and operations, stated creating a single Canadian team that would "make for a powerful creative force on future projects" while making room for fifty new positions at the studio. [24] [25] In November 2012, Rockstar Toronto's legal entity, Rockstar Toronto Inc., was transitioned from Ontario to British Columbia as Rockstar Games Toronto Inc. and then transformed to Rockstar Games Toronto ULC, an unlimited liability corporation. [26] [27]

Rockstar Toronto later ported Grand Theft Auto V to Windows. This version was initially scheduled to be released alongside the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions in 2014. The port was delayed to April 2015, which the studio attributed to optimizations and the integration of a built-in video editor, which is exclusive to this release. Rockstar Games referred to the Windows port as the game's "ultimate" edition. [28] [29] On 24 December 2020, CA$66,000 worth of newly delivered computer equipment and accessories were stolen from Rockstar Toronto's offices. The incident was the first in a string of robberies in Oakville that continued until 23 January 2021. The suspect, a 30-year-old woman, was arrested on 25 January. [30] [31]

Games developed

List of games developed by Rockstar Toronto, 1994–present
YearTitlePlatform(s)Publisher(s)Notes
1988 Techno Cop Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Sega Genesis, ZX Spectrum Gremlin Graphics, U.S. Gold, RazorSoftCo-developed with Gray Matter
1990The Ultimate RideAmiga, Atari ST Mindscape Co-developed with Gray Matter
1994 Quarantine 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, MS-DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn GameTek
1996 Quarantine II: Road Warrior MS-DOSMindscape, GameTek
1997 Dark Colony Classic Mac OS, Windows Strategic Simulations
1999 Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 MS-DOS, PlayStation, Windows Rockstar Games
Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 MS-DOS, Windows
2001 Oni PlayStation 2 Port development
Max Payne Port development
2005 The Warriors PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox
2007 Manhunt 2 Wii Port development
2008 Bully: Scholarship Edition Port development
Grand Theft Auto IV WindowsPort development
2010 Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Port development
2012 Max Payne 3 Port development
2015 Grand Theft Auto V Port development
2018 Red Dead Redemption 2 PlayStation 4, Stadia, Windows, Xbox OneDeveloped as part of Rockstar Games

Cancelled

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Take-Two Interactive</span> American video game holding company

Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockstar Games</span> American video game publisher

Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. 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. Founding members of the company were Terry Donovan, Gary Foreman, Dan and Sam Houser, and Jamie King, who worked for Take-Two at the time, and of which the Houser brothers were previously executives at BMG Interactive. Sam Houser heads the studio as president.

<i>Grand Theft Auto III</i> 2001 video game

Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 1999's Grand Theft Auto 2, and the fifth instalment overall. Set within the fictional Liberty City, the story follows Claude, a silent protagonist who, after being betrayed and left for dead by his girlfriend during a robbery, embarks on a quest for revenge that leads him to become entangled in a world of crime, drugs, gang warfare, and corruption. The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Its open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City, consisting of three main areas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockstar North</span> British video game developer

Rockstar North is a British video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Edinburgh. The studio is best known for creating the Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto series, including Grand Theft Auto V, the second-best-selling game and most profitable entertainment product of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockstar Leeds</span> British video game developer

Rockstar Leeds Limited is a British video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Leeds. Ian J. Bowden, Dave Box, Gordon Hall, and Jason McGann founded the company as Möbius Entertainment in December 1997 after working together at the studio Hookstone. Möbius worked with SCi on two games: Alfred's Adventure, a remake of Alfred Chicken, and the cancelled Titanium Angels. Starting in 2001, the studio created Game Boy Advance games for several publishers, including multiple for The 3DO Company and Max Payne for Rockstar Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockstar San Diego</span> American video game developer

Rockstar San Diego, Inc. is an American video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Carlsbad, California. The studio is best known for developing the Midnight Club and Red Dead series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lazlow Jones</span> American writer and voice actor

Jeffrey Crawford "Lazlow" Jones is an American writer, producer, director, voice actor, and radio personality. He is best known for his work with Rockstar Games, with which he has worked on the Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, and Red Dead Redemption series and for his radio shows Technofile and The Lazlow Show.

<i>Bully</i> (video game) 2006 action-adventure video game

Bully is a 2006 action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar Vancouver and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 17 October 2006 for the PlayStation 2. A remastered version of the game, subtitled Scholarship Edition, was developed by Mad Doc Software and released on 4 March 2008 for Xbox 360 and Wii, and on 21 October 2008 for Windows. Bully was re-released for PlayStation 4 available via PlayStation Network on 22 March 2016. An updated version of the Scholarship Edition, titled Anniversary Edition, was developed by War Drum Studios and released for Android and iOS on 8 December 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Houser</span> English video game producer (born 1971)

Sam Houser is an English video game producer. He is a co-founder and the current president of Rockstar Games, and is one of the creative driving forces behind the Grand Theft Auto franchise, having been its producer since the third game. His brother Dan was Rockstar's vice president of creativity until 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockstar Vienna</span> Austrian video game developer

Rockstar Vienna was an Austrian video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Vienna. Peter Baustädter, Niki Laber, and Hannes Seifert founded the studio as Neo Software in January 1993 as they neared the completion of Whale's Voyage. The game led Neo Software to early success, as did 1994's The Clue!, which sold over a million copies, and enabled the company to relocate from Seifert's house in Hirtenberg to offices in Vienna. After Neo Software's Alien Nations sold more than a million copies in 1999, Computec Media acquired a majority stake in the company, seeking it to produce online games. It then sold the studio and several other businesses to Gameplay.com in February 2000, which sold Neo Software to Take-Two Interactive in January 2001 as part of a subsidiary exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockstar New England</span> American video game developer

Rockstar New England, Inc. is an American video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Andover, Massachusetts. Ian Lane Davis founded the company as Mad Doc Software in November 1999 after working as a technical director for Activision. The studio worked with Activision on Star Trek: Armada before leading the development of its sequel, Star Trek: Armada II. Starting in 2002, Mad Doc was the principal developer of the Empire Earth series, developing two games and two expansions. While the successful Empire Earth II landed the company publishing contracts with Rockstar Games and Bethesda Softworks, Empire Earth III was a critical and commercial failure and led to the end of the series. Mad Doc developed Star Trek: Legacy for Bethesda Softworks and Bully: Scholarship Edition for Rockstar Games. After the latter was released in March 2008, Rockstar Games's parent company, Take-Two Interactive, bought Mad Doc and integrated it with Rockstar Games as Rockstar New England. Under Rockstar Games, the studio worked on a sequel to Bully until its developers were reallocated to projects like Max Payne 3.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockstar Vancouver</span> Canadian video game developer

Rockstar Vancouver Inc. was a Canadian video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Vancouver. The studio is best known for developing Bully (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockstar Advanced Game Engine</span> Proprietary game engine

The Rockstar Advanced Game Engine (RAGE) is a proprietary game engine of Rockstar Games, developed by the RAGE Technology Group division of Rockstar San Diego, based on the Angel Game Engine. Since its first game, Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis in 2006, released for the Xbox 360 and Wii, the engine has been used by Rockstar Games's internal studios to develop advanced open world games for computers and consoles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockstar Lincoln</span> British video game developer

Rockstar Lincoln Limited is a British video game developer based in North Hykeham. It is the quality assurance and localisation studio of Rockstar Games. Steve Marsden and David Cooke founded the company as Spidersoft in May 1992. It initially developed Game Boy and Game Gear ports of various games, including several pinball video games for the publisher 21st Century Entertainment, which acquired the studio in 1995. Following 21st Century Entertainment's shutdown in 1998, Spiderosft was sold to Take-Two Interactive and renamed Tarantula Studios. The studio continued working on Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, including Grand Theft Auto (1999). In 2002, the development arm of Tarantula Studios was shut down and its quality assurance portion integrated with Take-Two's Rockstar Games label as Rockstar Lincoln.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Houser</span> English video game producer (born 1973)

Daniel Houser is an English video game writer and producer. He is one of the co-founders of Rockstar Games alongside his brother Sam Houser. He served as the head writer and vice president of creativity until his resignation in 2020. His brother is the current president of Rockstar Games.

Max Payne is a neo-noir third-person shooter video game series developed by Remedy Entertainment and Rockstar Studios. The series is named after its protagonist, Max Payne, a New York City police detective turned vigilante after his family was murdered by drug addicts. The first two installments were written by Sam Lake, while Max Payne 3 was primarily written by Rockstar Games' Dan Houser.

<i>Grand Theft Auto V</i> 2013 video game

Grand Theft Auto V is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2008's Grand Theft Auto IV, and the fifteenth instalment overall. Set within the fictional state of San Andreas, based on Southern California, the single-player story follows three protagonists—retired bank robber Michael De Santa, street gangster Franklin Clinton, and drug dealer and gunrunner Trevor Philips, and their attempts to commit heists while under pressure from a corrupt government agency and powerful criminals. Players freely roam San Andreas's open world countryside and fictional city of Los Santos, based on Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Navid Khonsari</span> Iranian-Canadian video game director

Navid Khonsari is an Iranian-Canadian video game, virtual/mixed reality, film and graphic novel creator, writer, director and producer.

Development of <i>Grand Theft Auto V</i> Development of 2013 video game

A team of approximately 1,000 people developed Grand Theft Auto V over several years. Rockstar Games released the action-adventure game in September 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, in November 2014 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, in April 2015 for Windows, and in March 2022 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. The first main Grand Theft Auto series entry since Grand Theft Auto IV, its development was led by Rockstar North's core 360-person team, who collaborated with several other international Rockstar studios. The team considered the game a spiritual successor to many of their previous projects like Red Dead Redemption and Max Payne 3. After its unexpected announcement in 2011, the game was fervently promoted with press showings, cinematic trailers, viral marketing strategies and special editions. Its release date, though subject to several delays, was widely anticipated.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "GameTek's Alternative Reality Technology division acquires Imagexcel, opens Canadian office" (Press release). GameTek. 9 March 1995. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018 via The Free Library.
  2. "Home". Rockstar Canada. Archived from the original on 29 April 2001. Rockstar Games Canada has been in the videogame busines for more than several years ; Since before the time of He-Man™.
  3. 1 2 3 Scotford, Laurence (October 1994). "Blueprint: Quarantine". PC Zone . No. 19. Dennis Publishing. pp.  30–31. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
  4. McCash, Vicki (10 March 1995). "Chief financial officer resigns at GameTek". South Florida Sun Sentinel . p. 1D. Archived from the original on 8 September 2021. Retrieved 8 September 2021 via Newspapers.com.
  5. "GameTek". Consoles + (in French). No. 41. March 1995. p. 52. Retrieved 3 October 2021 via Internet Archive.
  6. Johnston, Chris (31 July 1997). "GameTek Assets Sold to Take 2". GameSpot . Archived from the original on 1 December 1998.
  7. "Studio". Rockstar Toronto. Archived from the original on 18 March 2009. The team responsible for the cult classics Road Warrior and Quarantine joined the Rockstar family in 1999.
  8. Zwiezen, Zack (19 January 2017). "Ranking The Grand Theft Auto Games, From Worst To Best". Kotaku . Archived from the original on 18 October 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  9. Olafson, Peter (25 January 2001). "GAME THEORY; Guns, And Fists, for Hire". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  10. Bye, John (4 August 2001). "Payne gets some consolation". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  11. "Take-Two Acquires Barking Dog Studios". Gamasutra . 2 August 2002. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  12. "Come Out to Play-i-ay". IGN . 1 August 2002. Archived from the original on 2 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  13. Dunham, Jeremy (12 May 2005). "Pre-E3 2005: The Warriors: From Film to Game". IGN . Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  14. "The Warriors". GamesRadar+ . 14 October 2005. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  15. Good, Owen (16 April 2011). "Rockstar Had Planned a 'Spiritual Successor' to The Warriors". Kotaku . Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  16. Kubba, Sinan (23 May 2013). "The Warriors rages onto PSN next week as PS2 Classic". Engadget . Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  17. Kuchera, Ben (8 February 2007). "Manhunt 2 coming to the PS2, PSP, and... Wii?". Ars Technica . Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  18. Anderson, Luke (21 January 2008). "Bully: Scholarship Edition Impressions". GameSpot . Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  19. Goldfarb, Andrew (10 July 2012). "Rockstar Expands Max Payne 3 Studio". IGN . Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  20. Roberts, Samuel (11 April 2015). "Rockstar talk 4K, PC performance and more". PC Gamer . Archived from the original on 7 July 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  21. Lien, Tracey (9 July 2012). "Rockstar expands Toronto studio, closes Vancouver studio". Polygon . Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  22. Schramm, Mike (9 July 2012). "Rockstar Vancouver studio closed, staff asked to join new facility in Toronto". Engadget . Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  23. Ore, Jonathan (20 August 2013). "Splinter Cell: Blacklist a high-stakes gamble for Ontario video game scene". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  24. Williams, Mike (10 July 2012). "Rockstar Vancouver closes, shuffles employees to Toronto". GamesIndustry.biz . Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  25. Purchese, Robert (10 July 2012). "Rockstar closing Max Payne 3 studio in Vancouver". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  26. "Corporate Registry Notices – November 29, 2012". BC Laws. 29 November 2012. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  27. "Corporate Registry Notices – November 29, 2012". BC Laws. 29 November 2012. Archived from the original on 25 October 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  28. Edwards, Tim (8 April 2015). "Hands on with GTA V on PC: the "ultimate" port". PCGamesN . Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  29. Makuch, Eddie (9 April 2015). "GTA 5 PC Is the "Ultimate" Version". GameSpot . Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  30. Mitchell, Don (27 January 2021). "Woman accused of crime spree in Oakville faces slew of charges: police". Global News . Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  31. Lugris, Mark (30 January 2021). "Woman Steals $66,000 Worth Of Equipment From Rockstar In Greater Toronto Area". TheGamer. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 3 October 2021.