Who owns Rockstar Games?

Take-Two Interactive, which set up Rockstar as its publishing label in 1998.

Where is Rockstar North?

Edinburgh, Scotland. It makes the Grand Theft Auto games.

Did Dan Houser leave Rockstar?

Yes. His departure was announced in February 2020 and took effect on March 11, 2020. Sam Houser remains president.

How many studios does Rockstar have?

Rockstar North, San Diego, Leeds, London, Toronto, New England, Lincoln and India are the current ones. Rockstar Vancouver closed in 2012.

Explainer

Inside Rockstar Games: The Studio Nobody Understands

Rockstar is one of the most famous names in games and one of the least explained. It is a label, a group of studios across several countries, and a company that rarely speaks. Here is what is on the record.

By GTA VI Radio editorsNovember 6, 20263 min read

The Edinburgh skyline with the castle and old town in view — Edinburgh, where Rockstar North has its studio. Photo: Calum McRoberts, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Facts come from the named sources below. Where a claim is only reported, or rests on one person's account, we say so.

A label, not a single studio

Take-Two Interactive bought assets from BMG Interactive in March 1998, and Rockstar Games was set up as its publishing label that December. Wikipedia lists its founders as Terry Donovan, Gary Foreman, Dan Houser, Sam Houser and Jamie King. Take-Two is still the parent company.

Leslie Benzies is closely associated with the series as a long-time Rockstar North leader, but he is not on that founder list, so we do not call him a co-founder.

The Rockstar North headquarters building in Edinburgh, Scotland — Rockstar North's headquarters in Edinburgh, where the Grand Theft Auto series is made. Photo: Thomas Nugent, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

What each studio makes

Rockstar's studios have different jobs. Rockstar North began as DMA Design in 1988 and was renamed after Take-Two bought it in 2002; it leads Grand Theft Auto. Many other studios contribute to those games in support roles. The table below lists each studio's best-documented work, as recorded on Wikipedia, so check the credits of a specific game if you need to be sure.

Studio	Base	Best-documented work
Rockstar North	Edinburgh	GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas, IV, V and VI; Manhunt
Rockstar San Diego	Carlsbad, California	Midnight Club series, Red Dead Revolver, Red Dead Redemption (formerly Angel Studios)
Rockstar Leeds	Leeds	Liberty City Stories, Vice City Stories, Chinatown Wars (the handheld GTA games)
Rockstar London	London	Manhunt 2 (took over), Midnight Club: L.A. Remix, co-led Max Payne 3
Rockstar Toronto	Oakville, Ontario	The Warriors, plus many ports; absorbed Rockstar Vancouver in 2012
Rockstar New England	Andover, Massachusetts	Bully: Scholarship Edition, with support on many other games
Rockstar Vancouver (closed 2012)	Vancouver	The original Bully (2006); co-led Max Payne 3
Rockstar Lincoln	Lincoln	Testing and localisation
Rockstar India	Bengaluru	Newest studio, listed as founded in 2016

The leaders who left

Terry Donovan left in January 2007. Dan Houser, the lead writer on the series, left on March 11, 2020, after a long break that began in 2019. Sam Houser remains the company's president. Leslie Benzies left in 2016 and later sued Take-Two, Rockstar and the Housers for about $150 million in unpaid royalties; the case was settled confidentially.

Secrecy and crunch

In 2018 Dan Houser told an interviewer that senior writers worked 100-hour weeks on Red Dead Redemption 2. He later clarified that this meant four senior writers for about three weeks, and Rockstar said it does not expect that of others. Reporting by Jason Schreier the same month found many staff felt pressure to work nights and weekends, with averages of 55 to 60 hours reported; Rockstar acknowledged some evening and weekend work but disputed the averages.

In 2023 a former Rockstar North technical director said the studio had asked him to remove blog posts about cancelled projects, saying Rockstar wanted to protect its mystique. That is his account, and Rockstar has not publicly addressed it. In 2026, Bloomberg reportedly quoted Rockstar saying it would not finish GTA VI by crunching.

Rockstar Games staff accepting an award on stage at the Game Developers Choice Awards 2019 — Rockstar Games accepting the Best Technology award at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2019. Photo: Official GDC, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

The 2025 dismissals

Around the end of October 2025, Rockstar dismissed 30 to 40 staff in the UK and Canada. Take-Two cited gross misconduct, and Rockstar said it concerned sharing confidential information in a public forum and had nothing to do with union activity. The IWGB union called it union busting and said the staff used private channels. More than 200 Rockstar employees signed an open letter backing the fired workers. The two sides disagree, and we have not seen the evidence either way.

Wikipedia also records later steps in this dispute, including a tribunal ruling and the formation of a staff union, but we could not verify those against a second source, so we do not state them.

How long and how much

GTA V's cost, about $265 million to make and market, comes from a 2013 report and has never been officially confirmed. For GTA VI, a Bloomberg feature reportedly quotes Rockstar saying the budget did not exceed $1.5 billion, and puts the team at 4,711 people in 12 offices. We treat both as reported, not confirmed.

GTA VI was delayed from fall 2025 to May 26, 2026, then to November 19, 2026.

12offices reportedly working on GTA VI, with 4,711 staff, according to Bloomberg

Quick answers

Who owns Rockstar Games?: Take-Two Interactive, which set up Rockstar as its publishing label in 1998.
Where is Rockstar North?: Edinburgh, Scotland. It makes the Grand Theft Auto games.
Did Dan Houser leave Rockstar?: Yes. His departure was announced in February 2020 and took effect on March 11, 2020. Sam Houser remains president.
How many studios does Rockstar have?: Rockstar North, San Diego, Leeds, London, Toronto, New England, Lincoln and India are the current ones. Rockstar Vancouver closed in 2012.

Sources

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