Rockstar North

About

Rockstar North (legally Rockstar Games UK Limited) is a British video game development studio based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and a wholly owned studio of Rockstar Games. The studio traces its roots to DMA Design, founded in 1988 in Dundee by David Jones during his studies at the Dundee Institute of Technology. The company first gained global recognition with the release of Lemmings in 1991, which sold over 20 million copies across 21 platforms. After years of projects with Nintendo and BMG Interactive — during which DMA Design began developing what would become Grand Theft Auto — the studio was acquired by Gremlin Interactive in 1997, then by Take-Two Interactive in 1999. Under Take-Two's ownership the studio worked closely with the newly formed Rockstar Games publishing label, relocating its operations to Edinburgh. In March 2002 DMA Design was integrated into Rockstar Games as Rockstar Studios, and renamed Rockstar North in May of the same year. Under the Rockstar North banner, the studio produced Grand Theft Auto III (2001), Vice City (2002), San Andreas (2004), GTA IV (2008), and GTA V (2013) — the latter becoming the second-best-selling game of all time with over 200 million copies sold and an estimated $6 billion in revenue. The studio occupies Barclay House on Holyrood Road in Edinburgh, which it purchased outright in 2021.

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