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. Noire,
The Warriors,
Bully,
Manhunt,
Midnight Club,
State of Emergency, and
Red Dead, series and the use of open world, free roaming settings in their games. It comprises studios that have been acquired and renamed as well as others that have been created internally. While many of the studios Take-Two Interactive has acquired have been merged into the Rockstar brand, several other recent ones have retained their previous identities and have become part of the company's
2K Games division. The Rockstar Games label was founded in New York City in 1998
by the English
video game producers Sam Houser,
Dan Houser, Terry Donovan, Jamie King and Gary Foreman.