All the studios that are part of Take-Two Interactive, the publisher of GTA — and what they are famous for

Rockstar Games games are published by Take-Two Interactive. However, there are other development teams under the control of the American corporation. In this article we will talk about all the studios managed by Take-Two, and also mention the disbanded development teams.

We will start with the teams that exist at the current moment in time.

Rockstar Games (founded 1998)

Rockstar Games has ten divisions around the world, from Canada to India. The main studio is Rockstar North, the authors of the Grand Theft Auto series and the Manhunt duology, as well as both parts of Red Dead Redemption, which were developed jointly with Rockstar San Diego. This team, in turn, worked on the racing series Midnight Club and Table Tennis, the first game to use the RAGE engine and Euphoria technology, which is needed for realistic physics of human bodies.

Rockstar Toronto has released The Warriors, the official game based on the 1979 film of the same name. In addition, she ported various projects from PS2 to PC and Nintendo Wii. Today, this studio includes Rockstar Vancouver, which we will discuss below.

Rockstar Lincoln brought the early GTA series to the Game Boy Color, and the shooter Hidden & Dangerous to the PS2. Now she is involved in translating and testing the company's games, as well as software localization.

Rockstar Leeds is known for the GTA series games for PSP — Liberty City Stories, Vice City Stories and Chinatown Wars, as well as ports of Manhunt 2 and The Warriors for this platform. In 2011, the studio developed the PC version of L.A. Noire.

Rockstar New England was called Mad Doc Software before joining Take-Two. She worked on the Empire Earth series and the Star Trek video games. While part of Rockstar, the studio re-released Bully for Xbox 360 and PC. The new edition was published under the subtitle Scholarship Edition.

Rockstar London helped with the development of Midnight Club 2, Max Payne 3, GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2.

Rockstar Dundee was known as Ruffian Games until 2020. Her most famous project is Crackdown 2. Since joining Rockstar, she has been working on projects that have not yet been officially announced.

Rockstar India was involved in the development of Red Dead Redemption 2.

Today, Rockstar studios are busy working on Grand Theft Auto 6 and supporting GTA Online.

2K (founded in 2005)

Like Rockstar, 2K is a full-fledged publisher that is part of Take-Two Interactive. Several development studios report to her.

Hangar 13 released the game Mafia 3 in 2016. A year later, the team merged with 2K Czech, the authors of the first two parts of the series. Together they released a remake of the original “Mafia”.

Cat Daddy Games was created in 1996. Since 2003, the studio has been owned by Take-Two. It specializes in sports games under NBA, WWE and NHL licenses. In addition, the team produces projects for smartphones, for example, Mafia 3: Rivals.

Visual Concepts is another team that deals with sports games. It was founded in 1988. In 2005, he joined Take-Two Interactive.

31st Union was founded in 2019 by people from Sledgehammer Games, which worked on individual parts of Call of Duty, for example, Modern Warfare 3, Vanguard and Advanced Warfare. The studio is currently developing an unannounced game that is not related to any of the existing series.

Firaxis Games opened in 1996, and 9 years later became part of Take-Two Interactive. She is known primarily for Sid Meier's games — Civilization, Pirates! and Railroads! And back in 2012, she revived XCOM and built on its success with a direct sequel.

Cloud Chamber was opened 5 years ago. All these years she has been working on a new part of BioShock, which has not yet been officially announced.

Private Division (founded in 2017)

This subsidiary published the Kerbal Space Program series, Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey and The Outer Worlds from Obsidian Entertainment, the creators of Fallout: New Vegas. And in April 2024, thanks to her, No Rest for the Wicked from Moon Studios, known for the Ori duology, appeared in early access.

Ghost Story Games (founded in 2017)

The team of Ken Levine, the author of the first and third BioShock, as well as System Shock 2. According to the game director, his studio will specialize exclusively in single-player games. The team is currently working on the shooter Judas, the spiritual successor to Bioshock.

Now we invite you to recall the most interesting development teams that were closed.

PopTop Software (1993-2006)

A studio that specialized in economic strategies. She has the original Tropico, the second and third Railroad Tycoon, as well as the turn-based Shattered Union under her belt. In 2006, the developers were transferred to the Firaxis Games team.

Frog City Software (1995-2006)

The second part of the Tropico series was not handled by PopTop, but by Frog City. She also managed to make the turn-based strategy Imperialism and its direct sequel.

Irrational Games (1997-2014)

The former studio of Ken Levine, which developed the first and third parts of BioShock, as well as the Burial at Sea duology of add-ons. Before this, the team worked on the realistic special forces simulator SWAT 4 and the superhero duology Freedom Force. She also collaborated with Looking Glass Studios to make System Shock 2.

2K Czech (1997-2017)

Before the 2K takeover, the studio was called Illusion Softworks. From 1997 to 2008, she developed Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven and the Hidden & Dangerous series of tactical shooters. Together with Pterodon, the team worked on games in the Vietcong series. After teaming up with Take-Two Interactive, it released Top Spin 4 and Mafia 2. Together with Hangar 13, it worked on the third part. In 2017, the two studios were merged into one.

2K Marin (2007-2013)

Ken Levine was not involved in the development of BioShock 2. The game was developed by 2K Marin. In addition, she managed to release the unsuccessful The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. Soon after the release of this project, the studio was closed.

Rockstar Vancouver (1998-2012)

The most famous project of the Vancouver division of Rockstar is a game about a school bully called Bully. The portfolio also includes the strategy Homeworld: Cataclysm and the team shooter Global Operations. It is worth noting that at different times the team participated in the development of Max Payne 3 and the original Counter-Strike. In 2012, the studio was merged with Rockstar Toronto.

PAM Development (1997-2008)

Known for the first three parts of the tennis simulator Top Spin and the football video games Ronaldo V Football and Pro Beach Soccer.

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What game from Take-Two Interactive — besides GTA 6 — are you looking forward to? Share your opinions in the comments!