Rockstar Vienna

Rockstar Productions GmbH
Rockstar Vienna (2003–2006)
Formerly
 Neo Software Produktions GmbH (1993–2003)
Subsidiary
Industry Video game industry
Fate Dissolved
Successor Games That Matter Productions
Founded 4 January 1993 (1993-01-04) in Hirtenberg, Austria
Founders
  • Hannes Seifert
  • Dr. Niki Laber
  • Peter Baustädter
Defunct 11 May 2006 (2006-05-11)
Headquarters Vienna, Austria
Key people
Number of employees
 Increase 100+ (2006)
Parent

Rockstar Productions GmbH (formerly Neo Software Produktions GmbH), doing business as Rockstar Vienna, was an Austrian Video game developer based in Vienna. The company was founded as Neo Software, by Hannes Seifert, Dr. Niki Laber and Peter Baustädter in January 1993, then located in Seifert's house in Hirtenberg. Following the success of their first release, Whale's Voyage (1993), they moved to Vienna in 1994. In the years following, they also released The Clue! (1994) and The Sting! (2001).

Following the acquisition of Neo Software by Computec Media in June 1999 and its subsequent sale to Gameplay.com in February 2000, the company was disposed of and sold to Take-Two Interactive for GB£1 in January 2001. From that point on, their focus would shift away from making games, and instead to porting such, the first being Max Payne (2001). In January 2003, Take-Two Interactive moved Neo Software to their Rockstar Games subsidiary, where it became Rockstar Vienna. The renamed company exclusively developed ports for games published by Rockstar Games, that being Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, all of which were released in 2003.

In May 2006, Take-Two Interactive abruptly shut down Rockstar Vienna, leaving over 100 employees fired. Manhunt 2, which was in development at the studio at the time, was transferred to Rockstar London to finish the development. Seifert and Laber, together with Jürgen Goeldner, announced a successor to the company, Games That Matter Productions, in January 2007, which would become part of Deep Silver as Deep Silver Vienna in August 2007, and shut down in February 2010. Following that venture, Seiffert left for IO Interactive, while Laber joined Socialspiel, also founded by former Rockstar Vienna and Deep Silver Vienna employees.

History

Beginnings (1993–1999)

Neo Software was established by Hannes Seifert, Dr. Niki Laber, and Peter Baustädter, on 4 January 1993, with its headquarters located in Seifert's house in Hirtenberg. Neo Software's first product was the 1993 game Whale's Voyage, which was released by Flair Software.[1] The success of the game led Neo Software to move to Austria's capital city, Vienna, in 1994. Other notable releases by Neo Software included The Clue! (1994) and its sequel, The Sting! (2001).[2]

Acquisitions (1999–2006)

On 1 June 1999, German media company Computec Media announced that they had acquired a 51% majority stake in Neo Software for shares of common stock worth DM 2 million, following Neo Software's games Rent-a-Hero (1998) and Alien Nations (1999) generating profits of DM 10 million for Computec Media.[3] On 23 February 2000, Gameplay.com announced that they had acquired five computer-related companies, including Neo Software, from Computec Media for GB£11.8 million in cash and shares of common stock worth another GB£35.8 million.[4][5] On 31 January 2001, however, the company proceeded to dispose of Neo Software by selling it to Take-Two Interactive for a total of GB£1.[6][7]

Neo Software's first project under the new parent was developing a port of Remedy Entertainment's Max Payne for Xbox, which was released in December 2001.[8] On 17 January 2003, during the studio's tenth anniversary, Take-Two Interactive announced that the studio had become part of their Rockstar Games umbrella, and would henceforth be known as Rockstar Vienna.[9] As Rockstar Vienna, the studio developed the Xbox and PlayStation 2 conversions for Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, as well as the Xbox ports for Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, all of which released in 2003.[10] Furthermore, they assisted Rockstar San Diego with the development of their Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis, which was released in 2006.

Closure, Manhunt 2, successors

On the morning of 11 May 2006, in a cost-cutting exercise and without prior notice, Take-Two Interactive closed down the Rockstar Vienna facility, making all of its employees redundant.[11][12] According to Rockstar Vienna video game designer Jurie Horneman, workers that turned up at the studio were greeted by security guards, who pointed out that the company had been dissolved "due to the challenging environment facing the video game business and [Take-Two Interactive] during this platform transition".[13] At that point in time, Rockstar Vienna employed over 100 people, making it the largest video game developer in Austria and Germany.[14] All laid-off staff were given care packages in accordance to Austrian law, as well as the option to continue working for Take-Two Interactive in another of their or Rockstar Games' studios.[15]

Before Rockstar Vienna was shut down, from January 2004 to May 2006, the studio worked on a sequel to Rockstar North's 2003 game Manhunt.[16] After Rockstar Vienna ceased to exist, all development of the game was moved to Rockstar London, where it was finished.[17] After the game was released as Manhunt 2 in October 2007, Horneman, who acted as level designer and producer on the game while employed at Rockstar Vienna, noticed that the game's credits, in the game itself, as well as in its manual, omitted all people who worked on the game as part of Rockstar Vienna, namely over 55 people.[18][19] According to Horneman, "the majority of the work [they] did at Rockstar Vienna is in the released game. Rearranged and modified, but it's there."[20] Horneman further added that he was "disappointed and outraged that Rockstar Games [tried] to pretend that Rockstar Vienna and the work [they] did on Manhunt 2 never happened — the work of over 50 people, who put years of their lives into the project, trying to make the best game they could",[21] and proceeded to append the entire list of missing staff credits to his blog post.[22][23]

As a result of Rockstar Vienna's demise, multiple smaller video game companies formed in the Vienna area.[24] A successor to Rockstar Vienna, Games That Matter Productions, was founded by Seifert and Laber, alongside company partner Jürgen Goeldner, and announced on 17 January 2007.[25][26][27] By the end of January 2007, Games That Matter consisted primarily of ex-Rockstar Vienna staff.[28] In August 2007, Games That Matter was acquired by Koch Media, became part of their Deep Silver label, and was renamed Deep Silver Vienna.[29] Their only released game was Cursed Mountain, developed in association with Sproing Interactive and released in August 2009.[30] A second title, Ride to Hell, was announced to be developed together with Eutechnyx,[31] however, Deep Silver Vienna was closed in February 2010, after Laber and Seifer had previously left.[32] Following Deep Silver Vienna's dissolution, Seifert joined Square Enix and became studio head of IO Interactive in Copenhagen, Denmark, and stayed in that position until February 2017.[33] Laber had already left Deep Silver Vienna in December 2009, and joined Viennese social-network game company Socialspiel, founded by former Rockstar Vienna and Deep Silver Vienna employees in 2010,[34] in August 2012.[35]

Games developed

Year Title Platform(s) Publisher(s) Notes
as Neo Software
1993 Whale's Voyage Amiga, Amiga CD32, MS-DOS Flair Software N/A
1994 The Clue! Kompart UK, Max Design
1995 Prototype MS-DOS Max Design Support developer for Surprise! Productions
Dark Universe Support developer for Martin
Whale's Voyage II: Die Übermacht Amiga, Amiga CD32, MS-DOS Neo Software N/A
Cedric and the Lost Sceptre Amiga Support developer for Alcatraz Entertainment
1996 Mutation of J.B. MS-DOS TopWare Interactive Support developer for Invention
Spherical Worlds Amiga Neo Software Support developer for 4-Matted
Black Viper Amiga, Amiga CD32 Support developer for Light Shock Software
Fightin' Spirit
1998 Rent-a-Hero Microsoft Windows THQ, Magic Bytes N/A
1999 Alien Nations JoWooD Productions
2001 The Sting!
Max Payne Xbox Rockstar Games Ported only, developed by Remedy Entertainment
as Rockstar Vienna
2003 Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne PlayStation 2, Xbox Rockstar Games Ported only; game developed by Remedy Entertainment
Grand Theft Auto III Xbox Ported only; game developed by DMA Design
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Ported only; game developed by Rockstar North
2006 Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis Wii, Xbox 360 Support developer for Rockstar San Diego
2007 Manhunt 2 Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii Development moved to Rockstar London in 2006

References

  1. ↑ Barton, Matt (11 April 2007). "The History of Computer Role-Playing Games Part III: The Platinum and Modern Ages (1994–2004), Page 2 of 12". Gamasutra. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  2. ↑ Osborne, Scott (25 July 2001). "The Sting! Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  3. ↑ Rothe, Christian (1 June 1999). "Ad hoc-Service: Computec Media AG". DGAP. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  4. ↑ This Is Money (23 February 2000). "gameplay.com buys five German businesses". This Is Money. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  5. ↑ Hobson, Rodney (23 February 2000). "Fun at Gameplay". Citywire. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  6. ↑ Fletcher, Laurence (31 January 2001). "Gameplay sells subsidiary for £1". Citywire. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  7. ↑ Business (30 April 2001). "Battle for games firm escalates". BBC News. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  8. ↑ IGN Staff (10 January 2002). "Xbox Reader's Vote 2001: Best Graphics". IGN. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  9. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (17 January 2003). "Take-Two buys another Rockstar". Eurogamer. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  10. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (11 May 2006). "Take-Two closes Rockstar Vienna?". GameSpot. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  11. ↑ Gibson, Ellie (12 May 2006). "Rockstar Vienna shuts down". Eurogamer. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  12. ↑ Gibson, Ellie (12 May 2006). "More than 100 made redundant as Rockstar Vienna closes". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  13. ↑ Orry, Tom (12 May 2006). "Rockstar Vienna is no more". VideoGamer.com. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  14. ↑ Carless, Simon (11 May 2006). "Breaking: Take-Two Closes Rockstar Vienna". Gamasutra. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  15. ↑ Gibson, Ellie (12 May 2006). "Rockstar officially confirms closure of Vienna studio". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  16. ↑ Hatfield, Daemon (2 November 2007). "Manhunt 2 Blackballs Rockstar Vienna". IGN. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  17. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (2 November 2007). "Manhunt 2 Credits Forget To Thank People Who Made Manhunt 2". Kotaku Australia. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  18. ↑ GamesIndustry International (2 November 2007). "Manhunt manual ignores Vienna". Eurogamer. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  19. ↑ Carless, Simon (1 November 2007). "Manhunt 2 Gets Rockstar Vienna Crediting Controversy". gamasutra.com. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  20. ↑ Parfitt, Ben (2 November 2007). "Rockstar Vienna staff question Manhunt 2 credit". MCV. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  21. ↑ Powell, Chris (3 November 2007). "Rockstar fails to credit some Manhunt 2 developers". Engadget. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  22. ↑ Martin, Matt (2 November 2007). "Rockstar Vienna snubbed in Manhunt 2 credits". gamesindustry.biz. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  23. ↑ Array (3 October 2008). "Giving Credit Where Credit Is Due, Page 1 of 3". Gamasutra. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  24. ↑ Rose, Mike (15 November 2013). "How the fall of Rockstar Vienna led to an indie uprising". gamasutra.com. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  25. ↑ Kietzmann, Ludwig (17 January 2007). "Ex-Rockstar Vienna founders vow to make 'Games That Matter'". Engadget. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  26. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (17 January 2007). "Rockstar Vienna vets make Games That Matter". GameSpot. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  27. ↑ Gibson, Ellie (18 January 2007). "Rockstar Vienna founders set up new studio". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  28. ↑ Borras, Michael (26 January 2007). "Ex-Rockstar Directors Talk Games That Matter". Gamasutra. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  29. ↑ Martin, Matt (22 August 2007). "Koch acquires Games That Matter". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  30. ↑ Brice, Kath (1 February 2010). "Koch closes Deep Silver Vienna studio". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  31. ↑ Games_Master UK (30 January 2009). "Ride to Hell". GamesRadar+. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  32. ↑ Alexander, Leigh (1 February 2010). "Deep Silver Closes Vienna Studio". Gamasutra. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  33. ↑ Kerr, Chris (23 February 2017). "IO Interactive studio head leaves Hitman dev after seven years". Gamasutra. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  34. ↑ Rose, Mike (1 November 2011). "Rockstar Vienna Veterans Socialspiel Launch First Facebook Game". Gamasutra. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  35. ↑ Brightman, James (14 August 2012). "Rockstar Vienna's former CEO joins Socialspiel". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
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