Rockstar Games is an American video game publisher based in New York City. Founded in 1998 by Sam Houser, Dan Houser, Terry Donovan, Jamie King and Gary Foreman, it is a wholly owned subsidiary and publishing label of Take-Two Interactive. The company operates a network of development studios and is best known for the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead series.
Rockstar emerged from assets acquired by Take-Two from BMG Interactive, which had published the original Grand Theft Auto in 1997. The British developer DMA Design, responsible for the early Grand Theft Auto games, later became Rockstar North and developed many of the series' subsequent entries. Rockstar expanded through additional studios in North America, Europe and other regions.
The company became particularly associated with large-scale open-world games. Grand Theft Auto III (2001) helped establish the modern three-dimensional open-world action game, while later titles such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Grand Theft Auto V, Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 expanded the company's emphasis on exploration, narrative and detailed interactive environments. Rockstar has also published or developed games including Bully, Max Payne 3, L.A. Noire and the Midnight Club series.
Rockstar Games has become one of the most prominent companies in the modern Video game industry. Its games have been commercially successful and influential in the development of open-world design, while also attracting controversy over their depictions of violence, crime and adult themes. The company has frequently presented video games as a form of entertainment and popular culture comparable in ambition to film and television; according to co-founder Sam Houser, Rockstar was founded on the idea that video games could become as culturally important as other forms of entertainment.