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Rockstar Vancouver

From Alfawiki
Rockstar Vancouver Inc.
FormerlyBarking Dog Studios Ltd. (1998–2002)
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryVideo games
FoundedMay 1998; 28 years ago (1998-05)
Founders
  • Glenn Barnes
  • Peter Grant
  • Michael Gyori
  • Christopher Mair
  • Brian Thalken
  • Sean Thompson
Defunct9 July 2012 (2012-07-09)
FateMerged into Rockstar Toronto
Headquarters
Vancouver
,
Canada
Number of employees
35 (2012)
ParentRockstar Games (2002–2012)

Rockstar Vancouver Inc., initially known as Barking Dog Studios Ltd., was a Canadian video game developer operating as a division of Rockstar Games and based in Vancouver. The studio gained recognition primarily for creating Bully (2006).

Established in May 1998 by six former developers from Radical Entertainment — Glenn Barnes, Peter Grant, Michael Gyori, Christopher Mair, Brian Thalken, and Sean Thompson — Barking Dog Studios began its journey by supporting Relic Entertainment on Homeworld (1999) before taking on full development of its expansion, Homeworld: Cataclysm (2000). Additional projects included producing the "Beta 5" update for Counter-Strike (1999), developing Global Operations (2002), and creating Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon (2002). In August 2002, Take-Two Interactive acquired Barking Dog and rebranded it as Rockstar Vancouver under the Rockstar Games label. The studio subsequently developed Bully and played a co-lead role in crafting Max Payne 3 (2012). On 9 July 2012, Rockstar Vancouver was consolidated into Rockstar Toronto, with its workforce of 35 offered relocation opportunities within the broader Rockstar organization.

Formation and initial projects (1998–2002)

The origins of Rockstar Vancouver trace back to Barking Dog Studios, founded by Glenn Barnes, Peter Grant, Michael Gyori, Christopher Mair, Brian Thalken, and Sean Thompson after departing Radical Entertainment amid financial difficulties during the late 1990s. The team sought a unique identity and selected their company name inspired by a California bar during brainstorming sessions. Officially incorporated on 16 July 1998, the studio secured its first publishing agreement shortly thereafter.

Early collaborations included assisting Relic Entertainment and Sierra Studios with programming tasks for Homeworld (1999). Subsequently, Barking Dog took charge of developing the expansion pack Homeworld: Cataclysm. During this period, the team operated out of Relic’s offices with a staff count approaching twenty. Released in September 2000, this expansion was later retitled Homeworld: Emergence for a 2017 re-release due to trademark considerations.

Around 1999, Valve enlisted Barking Dog to develop the "Beta 5" update for Counter-Strike, a title originally co-created by Barking Dog employee Minh Le. Barking Dog was responsible for approximately ninety percent of this update, which launched in December 1999. Following this collaboration, Le transitioned to Valve; the full version of the game was released in November 2000.

Toward the end of 2000, Barking Dog initiated development on a tactical first-person shooter titled Global Operations, which debuted in March 2002 under joint publishing by Crave Entertainment and Electronic Arts. Concurrently, the studio developed Transworld Skateboarding for Infogrames with an anticipated early 2002 release on Xbox.

In June 2001, Barking Dog commenced work on a real-time strategy game utilizing their proprietary ARES engine. This project evolved into Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon, a licensed tie-in with Disney’s film Treasure Planet, released in November 2002 through Disney Interactive.

Acquisition and Bully Era (2002–2007)

On August 1, 2002, Take-Two Interactive completed the purchase of Barking Dog, paying in cash along with 242,450 shares of restricted common stock, amounting to an approximate total of .[1][2] After the acquisition, Barking Dog was absorbed into Take-Two's Rockstar Games division and rebranded as Rockstar Vancouver. To prevent confusion with Rockstar Canada located in Oakville, Ontario, that studio was renamed Rockstar Toronto.[3] Jamie Leece, president of Take-Two’s Gotham Games label, played a role in facilitating this acquisition.[4] At the time of purchase, the company employed about 50 staff members who were engaged in two projects for Rockstar Games: one being a military-themed action title and the other an original game.[3][5] Subsequent to the acquisition, several founders and team members from Rockstar Vancouver established new game studios including Ironclad Games (2003),[6] Kerberos Productions (2004),[7] Slant Six Games (2005),[8] Big Sandwich Games (2006),[9] Hellbent Games (2006),[10] and United Front Games (2007).[11]

Under the Rockstar banner, Rockstar Vancouver worked on Spec Ops, a reboot of the franchise featuring music composed by Josh Homme and Alain Johannes from Queens of the Stone Age; although planned for release in late 2005, it was ultimately cancelled.[12][13] The studio’s debut release was Bully, which was announced in May 2005.[14] Prior to its launch, the game’s subject matter drew criticism from politicians and activists such as Jack Thompson who accused it of encouraging violence in schools.[15][16] Released in Europe under the title Canis Canem Edit,[17] the 2006 launch received widespread positive reviews, with PC Gamer describing it as Rockstar’s "softest and silliest game, with the warmest heart".[15][18]

Development of Max Payne 3 and Studio Closure (2008–2012)

By October 2008, rumors circulated that Rockstar Vancouver was involved in developing Max Payne 3, the third installment of the series originally created by Remedy Entertainment.[19] The project was officially announced in March 2009 with a projected release towards the end of that year,[20] involving collaboration among Rockstar Vancouver, Toronto, London, and New England studios.[21] Creative director Dan Houser stated that Max Payne 3 took precedence over a potential sequel to Bully due to constraints on available resources.[22] In early 2010, reports surfaced alleging poor management practices and excessive overtime within Rockstar San Diego’s workforce; similar claims were echoed by former employees at other Rockstar locations including Vancouver,[23][24][25] resulting in delays that postponed the game’s release from late 2010 until May 2012.[26][27]

On July 9, 2012, Rockstar declared that Rockstar Vancouver would be merged into an expanded Rockstar Toronto facility based in Oakville.[28] This transition provided Vancouver’s remaining workforce of approximately 35 employees with options to relocate within Rockstar’s broader organization.[29] Jennifer Kolbe, vice-president at Rockstar, characterized this consolidation as strengthening Canada's overall team while also creating fifty new job opportunities at the Toronto office.[30][31] Legally, Rockstar Vancouver Inc. stayed registered under Canadian federal jurisdiction before converting into a British Columbia corporation named Rockstar Games Vancouver Inc. in November 2012. It subsequently changed status to an unlimited liability corporation under the title Rockstar Games Vancouver ULC.[32][33] In August 2019, the entity was renamed Take-Two Interactive Software Vancouver ULC.[34]

Under the name Barking Dog Studios

Catalogue of titles produced by Rockstar Vancouver, 2000–2002
Year Game Platform(s) Publisher(s) Remarks
2000 Homeworld: Cataclysm Windows Sierra Studios
Counter-Strike Linux, macOS, Windows, Xbox Responsible for the "Beta 5" update (1999)
2002 Global Operations Windows Crave Entertainment, Electronic Arts
Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon Disney Interactive

Under the name Rockstar Vancouver

Catalogue of titles produced by Rockstar Vancouver, 2006–2012
Year Game Platform(s) Publisher(s) Remarks
2006 Bully Android, iOS, PlayStation 2, Wii, Windows, Xbox 360 Rockstar Games
2012 Max Payne 3 macOS, PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360 Created as part of Rockstar Studios

Projects discontinued

  • Transworld Skateboarding
  • Spec Ops

External links

  1. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Gamasutra: Acquisition
  2. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Gamasutra: The End Game Part One
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named IGN: Acquisition
  4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Gamasutra: The End Game Part Two
  5. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named The Leader-Post: Acquisition
  6. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Gamasutra: Ironclad
  7. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named RPS: Kerberos Productions
  8. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Shacknews: Slant Six Games
  9. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Gamasutra: Big Sandwich Games
  10. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Shacknews: Hellbent Games
  11. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named GameSpot: United Front Games
  12. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named GamePro: Reboots
  13. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named MTV: Queens of the Stone Age
  14. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named IGN: Bully announcement
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Eurogamer: Bully retrospective
  16. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Ars Technica: Bully review
  17. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Engadget: Canis Canem Edit
  18. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named PC Gamer: Bully retrospective
  19. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Kotaku: Max Payne 3 rumour
  20. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named IGN: Max Payne 3 announcement
  21. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Kotaku: Max Payne 3 developers
  22. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named VG247: Bully 2
  23. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Kotaku: Max Payne 3 mismanagement
  24. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Bit-Tech: Max Payne 3 mismanagement
  25. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Engadget: Max Payne 3 mismanagement
  26. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Shacknews: Max Payne 3 mismanagement
  27. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named GameSpot: Max Payne 3 release
  28. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Polygon: Merger
  29. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Engadget: Merger
  30. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named GIbiz: Merger
  31. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Eurogamer: Merger
  32. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named BC Laws 1
  33. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named BC Laws 2
  34. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named BC Laws 3
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