Rockstar Toronto
Encyclopedia
Rockstar Toronto is an in-house game development team for Rockstar Games
and Take-Two Interactive
, located in Oakville
, Ontario
, Canada
, a town located approximately thirty-five kilometres west of Toronto. The company was renamed Rockstar Toronto in 2002 after Rockstar Games bought Vancouver
-based Barking Dog Studios and re-named it Rockstar Vancouver
.
While initially focusing on developing brand new titles such as The Warriors
, in recent years Rockstar Toronto has taken the responsibility of porting Rockstar titles to the Wii
console and PC
. Their most recent project was co-developing a PC version of Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
with Rockstar North
, which was released on April 13, 2010.
1970s movie of the same name. The Warriors game
overall received positive reviews and made about $37 million worldwide. A lawsuit was filed by Roger Hill
(who played Cyrus in The Warriors movie) against the company for depicting him in the game without his permission. The claims were groundless and the company did indeed have rights to use Hill’s likeness in the game.
, Sony
, and Nintendo
. Rockstar Toronto collaborated with Bungie
(game developer famous for its Halo
title) to port Oni to the PlayStation 2
in 2001, with Remedy Entertainment
on Max Payne
to bring it to the PlayStation 2 in 2001, with Rockstar London
to bring Manhunt 2
to the Wii in 2007, with Rockstar Vancouver
and Rockstar New England to bring Bully: Scholarship Edition
to the Wii in 2008 and recently with Rockstar North
to bring Grand Theft Auto IV
and later its episodes
to the PC in 2008 and 2010. Rockstar Toronto also works daily with other Rockstar studios on various other Rockstar developed titles.
Rockstar Games
Rockstar Games is a major video game developer and publisher based in New York City, owned by Take-Two Interactive following its purchase of UK video game publisher BMG Interactive. The brand is mostly known for Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, L.A...
and Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is a major American publisher, developer, and distributor of video games and video game peripherals. Take-Two wholly owns 2K Games and Rockstar Games. The company's headquarters are in New York City, with international headquarters in Windsor, United Kingdom...
, located in Oakville
Oakville, Ontario
Oakville is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. As of the 2006 census the population was 165,613.-History:In 1793, Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, a town located approximately thirty-five kilometres west of Toronto. The company was renamed Rockstar Toronto in 2002 after Rockstar Games bought Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
-based Barking Dog Studios and re-named it Rockstar Vancouver
Rockstar Vancouver
Rockstar Vancouver is a video game studio located in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. Rockstar Vancouver released Bully, a controversial title exclusively for the PlayStation 2 on October 17, 2006...
.
While initially focusing on developing brand new titles such as The Warriors
The Warriors (video game)
The Warriors is a beat 'em up video game published by Rockstar Games. It was released on October 17, 2005 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and February 12, 2007 for PlayStation Portable. The game is based on the 1979 film, The Warriors...
, in recent years Rockstar Toronto has taken the responsibility of porting Rockstar titles to the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
console and PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
. Their most recent project was co-developing a PC version of Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City is a standalone compilation of the downloadable content episodes for the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV. Created by Rockstar North in the United Kingdom, it contains both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony on one disc...
with Rockstar North
Rockstar North
Rockstar North is a British video game developer based in Edinburgh, Scotland, best known for creating the Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings franchises in its earlier guise as DMA....
, which was released on April 13, 2010.
Rockstar Toronto in the media
Rockstar Games has appeared numerous times in the media ranging from gaming magazines, websites, and television shows. Rockstar Toronto has gained the most media coverage for its development of the game The Warriors, based on the American cult classicCult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
1970s movie of the same name. The Warriors game
The Warriors (video game)
The Warriors is a beat 'em up video game published by Rockstar Games. It was released on October 17, 2005 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and February 12, 2007 for PlayStation Portable. The game is based on the 1979 film, The Warriors...
overall received positive reviews and made about $37 million worldwide. A lawsuit was filed by Roger Hill
Roger Hill
Roger Hill is an American actor who played Cyrus in the 1979 cult classic The Warriors. Hill has had parts in One Life to Live and The Education of Sonny Carson before The Warriors. He now works in a Manhattan business college library. In 2006, Hill filed a lawsuit of $250,000 against Take-Two for...
(who played Cyrus in The Warriors movie) against the company for depicting him in the game without his permission. The claims were groundless and the company did indeed have rights to use Hill’s likeness in the game.
Collaborations
Rockstar Toronto collaborates with many of its fellow Rockstar studios around the world. Rockstar Toronto has developed games for every major gaming console and has worked with popular companies, such as MicrosoftMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
, and Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
. Rockstar Toronto collaborated with Bungie
Bungie
Bungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of...
(game developer famous for its Halo
Halo: Combat Evolved
Halo: Combat Evolved, frequently referred to as Halo: CE, or Halo 1, is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios. The first game of the Halo franchise, it was released on November 15, 2001 as a launch title for the Xbox gaming system, and is...
title) to port Oni to the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
in 2001, with Remedy Entertainment
Remedy Entertainment
Remedy Entertainment is a Finnish computer game developer founded in 1995 and based in Espoo, Finland. The company is best known for its Max Payne and Alan Wake series of video games.-History:...
on Max Payne
Max Payne
Max Payne is a BAFTA Award–winning third-person shooter video game developed by Finnish developers Remedy Entertainment and published by Gathering of Developers in July 2001 for Microsoft Windows. Ports created later in the year for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and the GameBoy Advance were published by...
to bring it to the PlayStation 2 in 2001, with Rockstar London
Rockstar London
Rockstar London is an English video game developer, and in 2005 was the second newest studio to join the Rockstar Games family. Notable productions include Manhunt 2 for the PlayStation 2....
to bring Manhunt 2
Manhunt 2
Manhunt 2 is an action/adventure video game developed by Rockstar Games and the sequel to 2003's Manhunt. The game was released in North America for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Wii on October 29, 2007....
to the Wii in 2007, with Rockstar Vancouver
Rockstar Vancouver
Rockstar Vancouver is a video game studio located in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. Rockstar Vancouver released Bully, a controversial title exclusively for the PlayStation 2 on October 17, 2006...
and Rockstar New England to bring Bully: Scholarship Edition
Bully (video game)
Bully, also known as Canis Canem Edit for the PAL PlayStation 2 version, is an open world video game released by Rockstar Vancouver for the PlayStation 2 on 17 October 2006 in North America, and 25 October 2006 in the United Kingdom...
to the Wii in 2008 and recently with Rockstar North
Rockstar North
Rockstar North is a British video game developer based in Edinburgh, Scotland, best known for creating the Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings franchises in its earlier guise as DMA....
to bring Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV
Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 open world action video game published by Rockstar Games, and developed by British games developer Rockstar North. It has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system...
and later its episodes
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City
Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City is a standalone compilation of the downloadable content episodes for the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV. Created by Rockstar North in the United Kingdom, it contains both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony on one disc...
to the PC in 2008 and 2010. Rockstar Toronto also works daily with other Rockstar studios on various other Rockstar developed titles.
Releases
| Name | Release Date | Platform | Collaboration | ESRB Entertainment Software Rating Board The Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and... |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Theft Auto: London, 1969 | PC Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... , PS1 |
DMA Design, Tarantula Studios | M- Mature 17+ | |
| Oni | PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... |
Bungie Bungie Bungie, Inc is an American video game developer currently located in Bellevue, Washington, USA. The company was established in May 1991 by University of Chicago undergraduate student Alex Seropian, who later brought in programmer Jason Jones after publishing Jones' game Minotaur: The Labyrinths of... |
T- Teen 13+ | |
| Max Payne | PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... |
Remedy Entertainment Remedy Entertainment Remedy Entertainment is a Finnish computer game developer founded in 1995 and based in Espoo, Finland. The company is best known for its Max Payne and Alan Wake series of video games.-History:... |
M- Mature 17+ | |
| Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne is a third-person shooter video game developed by Remedy Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and Rockstar Vienna for the Xbox & PlayStation 2 and published by Rockstar Games. The game is a direct sequel to Max Payne and is followed by Max Payne 3... |
PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... |
Remedy Entertainment Remedy Entertainment Remedy Entertainment is a Finnish computer game developer founded in 1995 and based in Espoo, Finland. The company is best known for its Max Payne and Alan Wake series of video games.-History:... , Rockstar Vienna Rockstar Vienna Rockstar Vienna was a Vienna, Austria-based developer of video games, and a sub-division of Rockstar Games. Rockstar Vienna was founded on January 4, 1993, joined Take-Two Interactive in February 2001, and was announced to join Rockstar Games during the tenth anniversary of the company in 2003... |
M- Mature 17+ | |
| The Warriors The Warriors (video game) The Warriors is a beat 'em up video game published by Rockstar Games. It was released on October 17, 2005 for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and February 12, 2007 for PlayStation Portable. The game is based on the 1979 film, The Warriors... |
PlayStation 2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... , Xbox Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console... , PlayStation Portable PlayStation Portable The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004... |
Rockstar Leeds Rockstar Leeds Rockstar Leeds is a British video game developer. Based in the eponymous city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, Rockstar Leeds has primarily published handheld games for Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance , as well as developing Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition and the Grand Theft Auto Stories games for the... |
M- Mature 17+ | |
| Manhunt 2 Manhunt 2 Manhunt 2 is an action/adventure video game developed by Rockstar Games and the sequel to 2003's Manhunt. The game was released in North America for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Wii on October 29, 2007.... |
Wii Wii The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others... |
Rockstar London Rockstar London Rockstar London is an English video game developer, and in 2005 was the second newest studio to join the Rockstar Games family. Notable productions include Manhunt 2 for the PlayStation 2.... , Rockstar Vienna Rockstar Vienna Rockstar Vienna was a Vienna, Austria-based developer of video games, and a sub-division of Rockstar Games. Rockstar Vienna was founded on January 4, 1993, joined Take-Two Interactive in February 2001, and was announced to join Rockstar Games during the tenth anniversary of the company in 2003... |
M- Mature 17+ | |
| Bully : Scholarship Edition Bully (video game) Bully, also known as Canis Canem Edit for the PAL PlayStation 2 version, is an open world video game released by Rockstar Vancouver for the PlayStation 2 on 17 October 2006 in North America, and 25 October 2006 in the United Kingdom... |
Wii Wii The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others... |
Rockstar Vancouver Rockstar Vancouver Rockstar Vancouver is a video game studio located in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia. Rockstar Vancouver released Bully, a controversial title exclusively for the PlayStation 2 on October 17, 2006... , Rockstar New England |
T- Teen 13+ | |
| Grand Theft Auto IV Grand Theft Auto IV Grand Theft Auto IV is a 2008 open world action video game published by Rockstar Games, and developed by British games developer Rockstar North. It has been released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 video game consoles, and for the Windows operating system... |
PC Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... |
Rockstar North Rockstar North Rockstar North is a British video game developer based in Edinburgh, Scotland, best known for creating the Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings franchises in its earlier guise as DMA.... |
M- Mature 17+ | |
| Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City is a standalone compilation of the downloadable content episodes for the 2008 video game Grand Theft Auto IV. Created by Rockstar North in the United Kingdom, it contains both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony on one disc... |
PC Personal computer A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator... |
Rockstar North Rockstar North Rockstar North is a British video game developer based in Edinburgh, Scotland, best known for creating the Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings franchises in its earlier guise as DMA.... |
M- Mature 17+ | |
External links
- Official Rockstar Toronto website
- Rockstar Toronto at MobyGamesMobyGames-Platforms not yet included:- Further reading :* Rusel DeMaria, Johnny L. Wilson, High Score!: The Illustrated History of Electronic Games, McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media; 2 edition , ISBN 0-07-223172-6...