Rockstar acquires Crackdown developer, Ruffian Games

Last week, it was announced that Rockstar Games had acquired developer, Ruffian Games, rebranding it as Rockstar Dundee. 

Rockstar Games should need no introduction, being the makers of almost all things Grand Theft Auto, the Red Dead Redemption series, Bully, and many other major hits. Ruffian Games was established in 2008, consisting of developers who have worked on games like Crackdown, Fable II and Project Gotham Racing. Its biggest hits are Crackdown 2 and Crackdown 3, with some work also conducted on other titles too. 

While neither Crackdown 2 or Crackdown 3 reached the heady heights of the original Crackdown, the acquisition is certainly an appealing one. TheGamer noted that previously Ruffian Games had been working on a number of undisclosed "upcoming titles" for Rockstar last year so it's a natural next step that an acquisition was on the cards. 

In a statement, founder of Rockstar Games, Sam Houser, explained, "the Ruffian team are a talented addition to Rockstar's global studios, and we look forward to working together on future projects." Joining in on the general good cheer that comes with friendly acquisitions, Billy Thompson, co-founder of Ruffian said, "we are incredibly excited to be joining the Rockstar team," continuing "not only do we have the opportunity to work on some of the most successful entertainment properties in the world, but Rockstar's investment in our studio is a great sign for the continued expansion of game development here in Scotland."

Ruffian Games is made up of just over 40 staff and already includes some past development talent from earlier Grand Theft Auto titles as well as Rockstar's Manhunt series. 

Transformed into Rockstar Dundee, this makes the developer formerly known as Ruffian Games the tenth Rockstar studio. These include Rockstar North, Rockstar Leeds, Rockstar Lincoln, Rockstar London, Rockstar New York, Rockstar New England, Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar Toronto, and Rockstar India.

There's no word yet on what Rockstar Dundee will be working on but the firm has a wide variety of experience in developing new games, as well as tackling recreations of older titles too, having conducted some work on Halo: The Master Chief Collection. It'll be interesting to see what they get up to next with the next-generation of consoles looming.