Rockstar Games

In May 1998, Take-Two Interactive acquired the assets of dormant British video game publisher BMG Interactive from its parent, BMG Entertainment (in turn a Bertelsmann subsidiary), in exchange for 1.85 million shares, around 16% of the company's common stock.[1][2] Through the acquisition, Take-Two Interactive gained rights to BMG Interactive-owned intellectual properties, including Grand Theft Auto and the upcoming Space Station Silicon Valley.[3] BMG Interactive executives Sam Houser, Dan Houser and Jamie King, as well as Terry Donovan of BMG Entertainment-owned record label Arista Records, subsequently moved to New York City to work for Take-Two Interactive.[3] In December 1998, the Houser brothers, Donovan and King established Rockstar Games as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, acting as the company's high-end publishing label.[3][4][5][6]

In January 2007, Take-Two Interactive announced that Donovan, until then managing director for Rockstar Games, left the company following a four-month leave of absence.[7] He was succeded by Gary Dale, who became chief operating officer.[8] 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.[9][10]

As of February 2014, Rockstar Games titles have shipped more than 250 million copies,[11] the largest franchise being the Grand Theft Auto series, which alone has shipments of at least 250 million as of November 2016.[12] Grand Theft Auto V alone shipped the highest number of units within the series' and the company's history, with over 85 million copies, becoming one of the best-selling video games of all time.[13][14]

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".[15][16]

In May 1998, Take-Two Interactive acquired the assets of dormant British video game publisher BMG Interactive from its parent, BMG Entertainment (in turn a Bertelsmann subsidiary), in exchange for 1.85 million shares, around 16% of the company's common stock.[1][2] Through the acquisition, Take-Two Interactive gained rights to BMG Interactive-owned intellectual properties, including Grand Theft Auto and the upcoming Space Station Silicon Valley.[3] BMG Interactive executives Sam Houser, Dan Houser and Jamie King, as well as Terry Donovan of BMG Entertainment-owned record label Arista Records, subsequently moved to New York City to work for Take-Two Interactive.[3] In December 1998, the Houser brothers, Donovan and King established Rockstar Games as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, acting as the company's high-end publishing label.[3][4][5][6]

In January 2007, Take-Two Interactive announced that Donovan, until then managing director for Rockstar Games, left the company following a four-month leave of absence.[7] He was succeded by Gary Dale, who became chief operating officer.[8] 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.[9][10]

As of February 2014, Rockstar Games titles have shipped more than 250 million copies,[11] the largest franchise being the Grand Theft Auto series, which alone has shipments of at least 250 million as of November 2016.[12] Grand Theft Auto V alone shipped the highest number of units within the series' and the company's history, with over 85 million copies, becoming one of the best-selling video games of all time.[13][14]

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
n October 2011, Dan Houser told Famitsu that Rockstar Games was intentionally avoiding developing games in the first-person shooter genre, because it is "in [their] DNA to avoid doing what other companies are doing. [...] [T]he goalpoint of Rockstar [Games] is to have the players really feel what [they are] trying to do."[17][18] 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. We didn't rely on testimonials in a business textbook to do what we've done. [...] If we make the sort of games we want to play, then we believe people are going to buy them."[19]

The company has been involved with charitable work ranging from supporting Movember, offering appearances in games as a raffle prize, and charity live streams.[20][21]

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, and as successor to BMG Interactive, a dormant video game publisher Take-Two Interactive had previously acquired the assets of. Founding members of the operation were Sam and Dan Houser, Terry Donovan and Jamie King, who worked for Take-Two Interactive at the time, and of which the Houser brothers were previously executives at BMG Interactive. Since 1999, several companies acquired by or established under Take-Two Interactive became part of Rockstar Games, such was Rockstar Canada (later renamed Rockstar Toronto) the first one in 1999, and Rockstar India the most recent in 2016. All companies organized under Rockstar Games bear the "Rockstar" name and logo; in that context, Rockstar Games is sometimes also referred to as Rockstar New York or Rockstar NYC.

Rockstar Games predominantly publishes games in the action-adventure genre, while racing games also saw success for the company. 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 newset game in the series, Grand Theft Auto V, has sold roughly 85 million copies since its release in September 2013, marking it one of the best-selling video games of all time, and Rockstar Games' most successful game yet. Other popular franchises published by Rockstar Games are Red Dead, Midnight Club, Max Payne and Manhunt.