Crackdown 2 developer Ruffian Games is now part of Rockstar

(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

Rockstar Games has snatched up a new studio, which it's rebranded Rockstar Dundee. Originally Ruffian Games, it's best known for Crackdown 2, and it's already got some history with GTA.

The studio was formed in 2008 and included former members of Realtime Worlds, the original Crackdown developer. Realtime Worlds was started by the co-founder of DMA Design, which went on to create GTA and become Rockstar North. As well as having this indirect connection to the series, Ruffian has been working with Rockstar since 2019, according to a Twitter call for new engineers.

While the Companies House listing (cheers, TheGamer) shows Take-Two Interactive, Rockstar Games' parent company, becoming a "person with significant control" on October 1, and the name change happening on October 5, Rockstar Dundee was actually added to Rockstar's career page as early as September 28, when it was spotted and shared on Twitter. It's since been removed.

Following Crackdown 2, Ruffian has had some false starts, like Hollowpoint, a co-op tactical action affair that was going to be published by Paradox Interactive. It's also provided additional work on Xbox Game Studios games, including Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Crackdown 3.

We don't know what Rockstar Dundee is working on at the moment, as Rockstar's future plans have yet to be announced—aside from more GTA 5, which will be launching on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

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