Ruffian says it’s ‘excited to work on Rockstar properties’ following sale

Crackdown 2 developer Ruffian Games has confirmed it’s been acquired by Rockstar and said it’s excited to work on the GTA firm’s entertainment properties.

As revealed in company house documents earlier this week, Ruffian has been renamed Rockstar Dundee and Rockstar parent Take-Two has taken a majority stake in the company.

“We are thrilled to have Ruffian join the Rockstar Games family,” said Rockstar founder Sam Houser in a prepared statement. “The Ruffian team are a talented addition to Rockstar’s global studios, and we look forward to working together on future projects.”

Billy Thompson, co-founder of Ruffian and one of the original GTA designers, added: “We are incredibly excited to be joining the Rockstar team. 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.”

Founded in 2008, Ruffian partnered with Microsoft to work on the Crackdown series, and with 343 Industries on Halo: Reach from the Halo Master Chief Collection.

The studio’s team of around 40 people have experience working on early Rockstar titles from the Grand Theft Auto and Manhunt series.

Ruffian announced last year that it was working on multiple games alongside Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar.

New job listings advertised by the studio asked for individuals with “generalised experience in multiplayer action games developed for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and future platforms.”

A recent Kotaku report claimed work on the unannounced next GTA title was “still early in development” and that it could be “moderately sized” upon release, partly to reduce employee stress and crunch, before being regularly expanded over time.