Call That A Studio Acquisition? This Is A Studio Acquisition!
Rockstar Games has acquired Ruffian Games, the developer behind Crackdown 2 and The Master Chief Collection, and rebranded the studio as Rockstar Dundee. First reported by TheGamer, the acquisition went through Companies House as early as October 1st, but certainly didn’t come out of the blue. Ruffian has worked with Rockstar in the past on some huge titles, such as Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto.
According to a job listing on Ruffian’s Twitter, the two companies have been working very closely for over a year and looking to bolster up their ranks with new engineering talent. The job listing says the team is looking for people with “generalised experience in multiplayer action games developed for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and future platforms” at junior and senior levels to develop “unspecified titles”.
Rockstar parent company Take-Two is yet to comment on the significance of the acquisition, but it is clear that the company is ready to go up a gear with the next-gen just over the horizon. Considering Ruffian’s history with remasters, I’m crossing my fingers for a Grand Theft Auto Collection in the near future.