Rockstar acquires Crackdown 2 developer Ruffian Games

Crackdown 2 developer Ruffian Games has been acquired by Rockstar and rebranded as Rockstar Dundee, according to a new listing via Companies House.

Companies House in the UK has two relevant listings relating to the acquisition; the first, dated 1st October, is a a notice that Rockstar's parent company Take-Two now has significant control of Ruffian, while the second, dated 6th October, is a certificate of name change, confirming the studio has been rebranded as Rockstar Dundee.

As noted by TheGamer, industry body The Scottish Games Network revealed Ruffian was working on a number of undisclosed "upcoming titles" for Rockstar last year, when it highlighted several job listings focussed on "multiplayer action games".

Ruffian was founded in 2009 by industry veterans from the likes of Climax, RealTime Worlds, and DMA Design. Most recently, the company has worked on "hot-seat multiplayer" VR game RADtv, and has continued to assist with The Master Chief Collection, this time on PC.

Rockstar Dundee will be the tenth studio under the Rockstar banner, following on from Rockstar North, Rockstar Leeds, Rockstar Lincoln, Rockstar London, Rockstar New York, Rockstar New England, Rockstar San Diego, Rockstar Toronto, and Rockstar India.