Rockstar Vancouver shutting its doors – Video Games Update
Take-Two Interactive (Take2) has announced that it will be closing down the Rockstar Vancouver studio, which was behind the recent third installment in the Max Payne series Max Payne 3.
The decision might shock some as Rockstar Vancouver’s Max Payne 3 did well with the critics, getting a score of 89 percent on Metacritic and did amazingly in the market having sold over 1.81 million units since launch. After such a positive reception, one
would expect bonuses for the studio employees and not what has actually happened.
Take-Two was quick to dismiss fan concerns about developers losing their jobs as the publisher stated that it had just transferred the developer team to another Rockstar Studio in Toronto. Basically, Take2 is restructuring the studio and bringing the two
Canadian developer teams under one roof. Take2 has revealed that Rockstar Toronto is also growing as 50 more positions, apart from the 35 developers from the Vancouver studio, have opened up in the studio.
The Vice President of Publishing and Operations, Jennifer Kolbe, explained the move by the publisher and said, "Expanding Rockstar Toronto and bringing our Canadian development talent together under one roof underscores our commitment to building world-class
teams that can make the kind of groundbreaking entertainment experiences Rockstar Games is known for. We believe a single Canadian team will make for a powerful creative force on future projects."
Fans are curious about what Rockstar Toronto is working on. There is some speculation that the studio might be helping out with the next installment in the Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series, GTA V. There are also rumours that the Canadian team is working on
a sequel to the 2006 smash hit game Bully.
Bully was an open-world game, much like the GTA series, developed by Rockstar Vancouver and was first released exclusively for the Playstation 2 in 2006. After the commercial success, it was re-released two years later on the Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii
as Bully: Scholarship Edition. The game also made its way to PC eight months after the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii release.
Rockstar had previously announced that Bully is likely to get a sequel after Max Payne 3 was released so this merger of the two Canadian studios might mean that Rockstar is gearing up to deliver the next installment of the game.
Tags: