Rockstar London

Rockstar London Limited is a British video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in London. The company was established through Mark Washbrook in November 2005 within the Rockstar Games' European publishing offices on King's Road in Chelsea, London. The new studio's first project became finishing Manhunt 2, a game that was formerly developed by defunct Rockstar Vienna in May 2006, but completed and released in October 2007.

Rockstar London Limited

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Video games
Founded	November 2005 (2005-11)
Founder	Mark Washbrook
Headquarters	London , England
Products	Manhunt 2
Parent	Rockstar Games

Rockstar London's second game, Midnight Club: L.A. Remix, was an adaptation of Rockstar San Diego's Midnight Club: Los Angeles for PlayStation Portable. Both games released alongside in October 2008. Washbrook left the company in January 2011. In 2012 and 2013, respectively, Rockstar London has worked in conjunction with all other Rockstar Games subsidiaries to develop Max Payne 3 as part of collaborative effort Rockstar Studios, and assist Rockstar North with their Grand Theft Auto V.

History

In November 2005, American video game company Rockstar Games announced that it was establishing a development studio as part of their European publishing headquarters in London.[1][2] The studio was to be co-located with these publishing offices on King's Road in London's Chelsea area.[1] The studio's foundation was led by Mark Washbrook, who also became the new company's studio head.[3]

In May 2006, Rockstar Vienna, one of Rockstar London's sister studios, was shut down by Take-Two Interactive.[4] At the time, the studio was developing a sequel to Rockstar North's 2003 game Manhunt, the development of which was then transferred to Rockstar London.[5] Manhunt 2 was officially announced as Rockstar London's debut title in February 2007,[6][7] and released in October 2007.[8] Their next title became Midnight Club: L.A. Remix, a PlayStation Portable adaptation of Rockstar San Diego's Midnight Club: Los Angeles, which was in development at the same time.[9] The game was announced in April 2008, together with the September 2008 release dates of Midnight Club: Los Angeles, which would also apply for L.A. Remix.[10] However, in July 2008, Rockstar Games announced that Midnight Club: Los Angeles had been delayed into October 2008, with L.A. Remix also adapting to the rescheduling.[11] After the game was released, GamesRadar+ editor Andy Hartup described it as "the best racer to go portable in 2008".[12]

In June 2008, Rockstar London was announced as a finalist for the "Best New UK/European Studio" award at the 2008 Develop Industry Excellence Awards,[13][14] though lost to Doublesix.[15] In January 2011, founder and long-time studio head of Rockstar London, Mark Washbrook, announced that he had resigned from the company.[16][17] His leaving coincided with that of Mark Lloyd, former studio head of Rockstar Lincoln.[18] Rockstar Games reassured that neither departure would affect projects in development at their studios at the time.[19][20] While Washbrook went on to work with Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, Lloyd founded his own video game consultancy service, Titanium Consultancy, which was later voluntarily wound down.[3] In May 2012, both Washbrook and Lloyd signed with Activision to work for their mobile-focused Activision Leeds studio.[21] Later renamed The Blast Furnace, the studio also hired Gordon Hall, co-founder and former president of Rockstar Leeds, in August 2012.[22]

For the 2012 game Max Payne 3, Rockstar London was announced to lead the development alongside Rockstar Vancouver, Rockstar Toronto and Rockstar New England, with the project later turning into Rockstar Studios, a collaboration spanning all Rockstar Games subsidiaries.[23] Rockstar London has most recently contributed to Rockstar North's Red Dead Redemption 2, which was released in 2018.

Games developed

Year	Title	Platform(s)	Publisher(s)	Notes
2007	Manhunt 2	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii	Rockstar Games	Previously in development at Rockstar Vienna
2008	Midnight Club: L.A. Remix	PlayStation Portable		N/A
2012	Max Payne 3	macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360		Developed as part of Rockstar Studios
2013	Grand Theft Auto V	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One		Supportive development for Rockstar North
2018	Red Dead Redemption 2	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Stadia, Xbox One		Developed as part of Rockstar Studios

References

1. Carless, Simon (21 November 2005). "Rockstar To Open New London Development Studio". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
2. Loughrey, Paul (22 November 2005). "Rockstar London establishes new development studio". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
3. Martin, Matt (22 May 2012). "Ex-Rockstar bosses working with Activision Leeds studio". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
4. Hatfield, Daemon (2 November 2007). "Manhunt 2 Blackballs Rockstar Vienna". IGN. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
5. Carless, Simon (1 November 2007). "Manhunt 2 Gets Rockstar Vienna Crediting Controversy". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
6. Carless, Simon (6 February 2007). "Rockstar To Debut Manhunt 2 For Wii, PS2, PSP". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
7. Kuchera, Ben (8 February 2007). "Manhunt 2 coming to the PS2, PSP, and... Wii?". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
8. Bangeman, Eric (24 August 2007). "Manhunt 2 will see Halloween release date after getting M rating". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
9. brianek (8 October 2008). "Midnight Club: LA Remix Preview". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
10. Webster, Andrew (21 April 2008). "Midnight Club: Los Angeles gets date, PSP version". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
11. Villasenor, Justin (3 July 2008). "Midnight Club: Los Angeles runs into a delay". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 14 May 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
12. Hartup, Andy (20 October 2008). "Midnight Club: LA Remix review". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
13. Media & PR (5 June 2008). "Develop Awards finalists revealed". MCV. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
14. GamesIndustry International (5 June 2008). "Develop Industry Excellence Awards 2008". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
15. GamesIndustry International (31 July 2008). "Develop Awards 2008". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
16. Hillier, Brenna (27 January 2011). "Rockstar bids farewell to two studio heads". VG247. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
17. Reilly, Jim (26 January 2011). "Rockstar London Studio Head Exits". IGN. Archived from the original on 3 August 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
18. Alexander, Leigh (27 January 2011). "Rockstar London Studio Head Resigns". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
19. French, Michael (27 January 2011). "Two Rockstar UK dev execs depart". Develop. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
20. Meer, Alec (27 January 2011). "Exit for Rockstar London and Lincoln studio bosses". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
21. Nunneley, Stephany (22 May 2012). "Report – former Rockstar London bosses sign on with Activision Leeds". VG247. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
22. Orry, James (9 August 2012). "Former head of Rockstar Leeds joins Activision's mobile studio". VideoGamer.com. Archived from the original on 10 December 2017. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
23. Totilo, Stephen (6 October 2011). "We Watched them Play Max Payne 3 , and We Were Very Impressed". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 3 October 2018. Retrieved 9 December 2017.