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Rockstar Toronto

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Rockstar Games Toronto ULC
Rockstar Toronto
Formerly
  • Imagexcel (198?–1995)
  • Alternative Reality Technologies
    (1995–1999)
  • Rockstar Canada (1999–2002)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
FoundedEarly 1980s
Headquarters
Oakville, Ontario
,
Canada
Key people
Kevin Hoare (studio director)
Parent

Rockstar Games Toronto ULC (trade name: Rockstar Toronto; formerly Imagexcel, Alternative Reality Technologies, and Rockstar Canada) is a Canadian video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Oakville, Ontario. The company was established as Imagexcel in the early 1980s. The company developed several games under that name, including Quarantine, published by GameTek in 1994. The publisher, through its Alternative Reality Technologies subsidiary, bought Imagexcel's assets in March 1995. GameTek then sold Alternative Reality Technologies to Take-Two Interactive in July 1997, where it became part of Take-Two's Rockstar Games label in 1999 as Rockstar Canada. In August 2002, the company was renamed Rockstar Toronto to avoid confusion with the newly acquired Rockstar Vancouver. As Rockstar Toronto, the studio has worked on several ports of Rockstar Games releases, as well as the 2005 game The Warriors, based on the 1979 film of the same name, and Max Payne 3 in 2012. Following the release of Max Payne 3, Rockstar Vancouver was merged into Rockstar Toronto, with the resulting company moving into new, bigger offices.

History

As Imagexcel and Alternative Reality Technologies (1988–1999)

Rockstar Toronto was established as Imagexcel in the early 1980s, "before the time of He-Man".[1][2] Imagexcel developed roughly fifteen games until 1995, including The Adventures of B.O.B. for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Dirty Harry for the Nintendo Entertainment System, as well as Techno Cop and Fiendish Freddy's Big Top o' Fun for the Amiga and Atari ST.[1] Another notable game was Quarantine, published by GameTek in 1994.[3][4] By the time of Quarantine's development, Imagexcel consisted of programmer and managing partner Kevin Hoare, programmers Ed Zolnieryk and Andy Brownbill, and artists Greg Bick and Ray Larabie.[1][5]

On 9 March 1995, GameTek announced that Alternative Reality Technologies, a newly formed subsidiary of the publisher, had acquired the assets of Imagexcel, including the 3D game engine from Quarantine that GameTek intended to use in its other games. Hoare, Zolnieryk, Bick, and Larabie formed the core of GameTek's Canadian development operations.[1][6] Within this structure, what became of Imagexcel was also referred to as GameTek Canada.[7] Alternative Reality Technologies developed Quarantine II: Road Warrior, which was released in 1996,[8] and Dark Colony, which was released in 1997.[9] On 31 July 1997, Take-Two Interactive announced its acquisition of several assets from GameTek, including Alternative Reality Technologies, GameTek's European offices, and distribution rights for the games Dark Colony, Jeopardy!, and Wheel of Fortune games.[10]

As part of Rockstar Games (1999–present)

In 1999, the Alternative Reality Technologies team became part of Rockstar Games, Take-Two's previously established publishing label, and assumed the name Rockstar Canada.[11] Under this name, the studio created two expansion packs for the 1997 game Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 and London 1961, both released in 1999.[12] The studio later ported Rockstar Games' Oni and Max Payne to PlayStation 2 in 2001.[13][14]

On 1 August 2002, Take-Two announced the acquisition of Barking Dog Studios, which would be renamed Rockstar Vancouver.[15] As part of the acquisition, Rockstar Canada would be renamed Rockstar Toronto to avoid confusion between the two.[16] Alongside the acquisition, Take-Two announced that the now-renamed Rockstar Toronto was working on a video game adaptation of the 1979 Walter Hill-directed film The Warriors.[17][18] The eponymous game was first shown at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in May 2005,[19] and released in October that year.[20][21] The game was well received,[22][23] and a PlayStation Portable conversion of it was developed by Rockstar Toronto in conjunction with Rockstar Leeds.[24] A spiritual successor to The Warriors, tentatively titled We Are the Mods, was originally planned, but ultimately cancelled.[25][26]

Following the release of The Warriors, Rockstar Toronto developed Wii ports of Manhunt 2 (2007)[27][28][29][30] and Bully: Scholarship Edition (2008),[31][32] and the Microsoft Windows ports of Grand Theft Auto IV (2008, in association with Rockstar New England)[33] and Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City (2010, comprising the two 2009-released Grand Theft Auto IV expansion packs The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony). In September 2008, Rockstar Toronto was rumoured to be working on a third instalment in the Max Payne series.[34][35][36] In November 2010, Rockstar Toronto teased to be working on next-generation games.[37] The company proceeded to collaborate with all other Rockstar Games studios, collectively referred to as Rockstar Studios, to develop Max Payne 3 (2012), also porting the game Microsoft Windows.[38]

On 9 July 2012, Rockstar Games announced that Rockstar Toronto would be moving into a new, bigger, and custom-built studio within Oakville, Ontario, into which Rockstar Vancouver would be merged.[39][40][41] All of Rockstar Vancouver's 35 employees at the time were given the possibility to move to the newly expanded Rockstar Toronto, or any other Rockstar Games studio.[42][43] This expansion was partially financed by the Government of Ontario, which granted the studio CA$2 million.[44][45][46] Jennifer Kolbe, vice-president of publishing and operations at Rockstar Games, stated that the move intended to make a single Canadian team that would "make for a powerful creative force on future projects",[47][48] and aimed at making room for 50 new positions at the company.[49][50] On 22 November 2012, the company was legally renamed from Rockstar Toronto Inc., over Rockstar Games Toronto Inc.,[51] to Rockstar Games Toronto ULC, as such becoming an unlimited liability corporation under the laws of British Columbia.[52]

By July 2013, job postings again started teasing a next-generation game in development at Rockstar Toronto.[53] The studio assisted Rockstar North on developing Grand Theft Auto V, which first released in September 2013, as well as handling its Microsoft Windows port, which released in April 2015.[54] For the Microsoft Windows versions of Grand Theft Auto IV and Grand Theft Auto V, respectively, Rockstar Toronto developed a built-in video editor for footage captured in-game.[55][56] Journalists remarked Grand Theft Auto V's Microsoft Windows version as its "ultimate version".[57]

On 24 December 2020, Rockstar Toronto became the first of several victims in a string of robberies committed by a 30-year-old woman, who stole computer equipment and accessories worth CA$66,000 from the studio. The perpetrator was arrested in January 2021.[58][59]

Games developed

As Imagexcel

Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s) Notes
1988 Techno Cop Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Sega Genesis, ZX Spectrum Gremlin Graphics, U.S. Gold, RazorSoft Co-developed with Gray Matter
1990 The Ultimate Ride Amiga, Atari ST Mindscape
1994 Quarantine 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, MS-DOS, PlayStation, Sega Saturn GameTek —

As Alternative Reality Technologies

Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s)
1996 Quarantine II: Road Warrior MS-DOS Mindscape, GameTek
1997 Dark Colony Classic Mac OS, Microsoft Windows Strategic Simulations

As Rockstar Canada

Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s) Notes
1999 Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 Microsoft Windows, MS-DOS, PlayStation Rockstar Games Expansion pack for Grand Theft Auto
Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 Microsoft Windows, MS-DOS
2001 Oni PlayStation 2 Ported only; game developed by Bungie West
Max Payne PlayStation 2 Ported only; game developed by Remedy Entertainment

As Rockstar Toronto

Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s) Notes
2005 The Warriors PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Xbox Rockstar Games —
2007 Manhunt 2 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii Supportive development for Rockstar London; also ported to Wii
2008 Bully: Scholarship Edition Microsoft Windows, Wii, Xbox 360 Supportive development for Mad Doc Software; also ported to Wii
Grand Theft Auto IV Microsoft Windows Ported only, together with Rockstar New England; game developed by Rockstar North
2010 Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City Microsoft Windows
2012 Max Payne 3 macOS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 Developed as part of Rockstar Studios; also ported to Microsoft Windows
2013 Grand Theft Auto V Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S Supportive development for Rockstar North; also ported to Microsoft Windows
2018 Red Dead Redemption 2 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Stadia, Xbox One Developed as part of Rockstar Studios

References

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