Rockstar Games
Around 2002, Angel discussed selling his company with Microsoft, Activision, and Rockstar Games. He had befriended Sam Houser and his brother Dan, two of Rockstar Games' founders, over a shared love of tequila. The company sought to acquire Angel Studios' Angel Game Engine as a proprietary game engine to replace Criterion Games' RenderWare, which it had used for the "Grand Theft Auto" series. Rockstar Games initially presented what Angel considered a low-ball. When he did not respond, Rockstar Games presented an offer Angel said he could not refuse and convinced him that the studio would have the creative freedom he wanted. Take-Two announced it had acquired Angel Studios on November 20, 2002. It paid in cash and 235,679 shares of restricted common stock with a combined value of . Angel Studios and its 125 employees became part of Rockstar Games as Rockstar San Diego. The headcount increased to 230 by 2003. As part of a cultural shift that some employees felt was abrupt, Rockstar Games scrapped the studio's policy of vacation for all employees after each game's launch.