Rockstar North history: from DMA Design to Edinburgh
How DMA Design of Dundee became Rockstar North in Edinburgh, dated from Companies House and Take-Two's SEC filings rather than fan lore.
Histories of Rockstar North tell the same story with different dates. This page dates the studio from two public records that are more exact than fan wikis or magazine profiles: the UK company register (Companies House) and Take-Two Interactive's filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The short version: the company behind Rockstar North has had four legal names, two of them adopted in 2002. Take-Two's property disclosures show it had left Dundee by late 2003. Since December 2021 the legal entity has not been called Rockstar North at all.
At a glance
| Founded | 1987 or 1988, as DMA Design, in Dundee, Scotland (sources differ, see below) |
| Founders (per MCV, 2009) | David Jones, Russell Kay, Steve Hammond, Mike Dailly |
| Bought by Take-Two | Sep 29 1999, from Infogrames Entertainment SA |
| Renamed | Rockstar Studios Limited on Mar 27 2002, then Rockstar North Limited on May 30 2002 |
| Base | Edinburgh. Take-Two's FY2026 10-K says a subsidiary owns two office buildings there |
| Best-known work | Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, San Andreas, GTA IV, GTA V |
| Parent | Take-Two Interactive, through its Rockstar Games label |
What is counted, and how
Legal names come from Companies House record 03312220. It was incorporated on Feb 4 1997 as "Pinco 900 Limited" and renamed DMA Design Limited on Apr 10 1997, so it is not the original 1980s DMA. In 1999 its registered office was in Sheffield, England, according to the purchase agreement filed with the SEC. We have not found a register entry for the original Dundee business.
The founding year is unsettled. MCV's 2009 profile says 1988. The List's archived history says 1987. We print both rather than pick one.
Release dates are the ones Rockstar's game pages list today, with filing dates noted where they differ. Rockstar gives May 1, 1998 for the first Grand Theft Auto; Take-Two's fiscal 1999 10-K gives November 1997 (international) and June 1998 (North America). Rockstar gives Oct 27 2002 for Vice City; Take-Two's fiscal 2002 10-K says Oct 29 in the US and Nov 8 2002 internationally.
Developer credits. Rockstar's pages list "Rockstar North" as developer of Grand Theft Auto, London 1969 and GTA 2, though the company was named DMA Design at the time. That is a later credit, not evidence the name existed in the 1990s.
What we left out. Headcount and staff numbers, for which we found no primary figure. Individual staff beyond named studio heads. Any detail of the 2016 to 2019 litigation beyond its dates.
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From Dundee to Take-Two
DMA Design began in Dundee, and MCV calls Lemmings its biggest success before Grand Theft Auto. The first GTA was published by BMG Interactive. In March 1998 Take-Two bought "substantially all of the assets of BMG Interactive Group", including the worldwide publishing rights to Grand Theft Auto. Take-Two paid with 1,850,000 shares of preferred stock. In fiscal 1998 (to Oct 31 1998), Grand Theft Auto sold more than 630,000 copies for Take-Two.
At that point Take-Two owned the game but not the studio. The seller named in the 1999 purchase agreement was Infogrames Entertainment SA of France. The agreement also refers to contracts with Gremlin Interactive Limited, which fits the Sheffield registered office. We found no primary record of when Gremlin acquired DMA, so that deal is not dated here.
On Sep 29 1999 Take-Two bought all the shares of DMA Design Holdings Limited. It paid one pound and took on about $11.9 million of debt. The 8-K describes DMA Design Limited as "the developer of the Grand Theft Auto series." GTA 2 followed on Oct 27 1999. Take-Two says it shipped more than one million copies in the fiscal year that ended four days later, on Oct 31.
The move to Edinburgh, dated by the filings
MCV says the relocation from Dundee to Edinburgh came "at the turn of the century" but gives no date. Take-Two's annual reports list where its subsidiaries rent offices, which narrows it.
| Take-Two 10-K (fiscal year end, filing date) | Name used | Offices listed | Size and annual rent as filed |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY1999 (Oct 31 1999, filed Jan 27 2000) | DMA Design Limited | Dundee and Edinburgh | 135,000 pounds (about $221,900) |
| FY2001 (Oct 31 2001, filed Feb 12 2002) | DMA Design Limited | Dundee and Edinburgh | about $400,000 |
| FY2002 (Oct 31 2002, filed Dec 23 2002) | Rockstar North Limited (formerly DMA Design Limited) | Dundee and Edinburgh | about $400,000 |
| FY2003 (Oct 31 2003, filed Feb 12 2004) | Rockstar North Limited (formerly DMA Design Limited) | Edinburgh only | 14,600 sq ft, about $540,000, lease to June 2009 |
| FY2004 (Oct 31 2004, filed Dec 22 2004) | Rockstar North | Edinburgh | 14,600 sq ft, about $993,000, lease to 2014 |
| FY2005 (Oct 31 2005, filed Jan 31 2006) | Rockstar North | Edinburgh | 40,000 sq ft, about $1,816,000, lease to 2014 |
| FY2008 (Oct 31 2008, filed Dec 19 2008) | Rockstar North | Edinburgh | 42,000 sq ft, about $3,111,000, lease to 2014 |
| FY2014 (Mar 31 2014, filed May 14 2014) | Rockstar North | Edinburgh | 42,000 sq ft, lease to 2015 |
| FY2026 (Mar 31 2026, filed May 22 2026) | (not named) | Edinburgh | Take-Two "owns two office buildings in Edinburgh" |
Two things stand out. DMA already had an Edinburgh office by October 1999, two years before GTA III. And Dundee drops out between the FY2002 report (filed Dec 23 2002) and the FY2003 report (filed Feb 12 2004), which is our best dated answer to "when did Rockstar North leave Dundee." The Edinburgh space then grew from 14,600 square feet in the FY2004 report to 40,000 in FY2005, the year after San Andreas: 40,000 / 14,600 = 2.7 times.
Rockstar later returned to Dundee. Take-Two's Nov 5 2020 results release says Rockstar acquired Ruffian Games, a Dundee studio founded in 2008 by Gary Liddon and Billy Thomson, and renamed it Rockstar Dundee.
Dated milestones
| Date | Milestone | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 or 1988 | DMA Design founded in Dundee | The List (1987); MCV (1988) |
| Feb 4 1997 | Pinco 900 Limited incorporated (company 03312220) | Companies House |
| Apr 10 1997 | Renamed DMA Design Limited | Companies House |
| Mar 1998 | Take-Two buys BMG Interactive assets, including GTA rights | Take-Two FY1998 10-K |
| Mar 19 1999 | DMA Design Holdings Limited incorporated | Companies House |
| Apr 6 1999 | GTA: London 1969 released | Rockstar game page |
| Sep 29 1999 | Take-Two buys DMA Design Holdings from Infogrames | Take-Two 8-K |
| Oct 27 1999 | GTA 2 released | Rockstar game page |
| Oct 22 2001 | Grand Theft Auto III released | Rockstar game page |
| Mar 27 2002 | DMA Design Limited renamed Rockstar Studios Limited | Companies House |
| May 30 2002 | Renamed Rockstar North Limited | Companies House |
| Oct 27 2002 | GTA: Vice City released | Rockstar game page |
| Oct 26 2004 | GTA: San Andreas released | Rockstar game page |
| Apr 29 2008 | GTA IV released (Rockstar North with Rockstar Toronto) | Rockstar game page |
| Sep 17 2013 | GTA V released | Take-Two FY2014 10-K |
| Apr 11 2016 | Take-Two files an action involving Leslie Benzies, "the former president of one of our subsidiaries" | Take-Two 10-K, May 2016 |
| Feb 7 2019 | All matters with Benzies resolved | Take-Two 10-K, May 2019 |
| By Nov 5 2020 | Ruffian Games acquired, renamed Rockstar Dundee | Take-Two release, Nov 5 2020 |
| Dec 22 2021 | Rockstar North Limited renamed Rockstar Games UK Limited | Companies House |
| Aug 2026 | Rob Nelson, described as Rockstar North co-studio head, runs GTA VI hands-off previews | FACTS.md F57 (press reports) |
| Nov 19 2026 | Grand Theft Auto VI release date | FACTS.md F1 (Rockstar Newswire) |
The 2021 rename changed the legal company, not the studio's public name. Take-Two's subsidiary list filed in May 2021 includes "Rockstar North Limited"; the May 2026 list does not, but includes Rockstar Games UK Limited. Press coverage of the 2026 GTA VI previews still calls the Edinburgh team Rockstar North.
What the studio's games meant to its owner
These are the GTA revenue shares from Take-Two's 10-Ks. Not every GTA game is a Rockstar North game (Liberty City Stories is credited to Rockstar Leeds and Rockstar North), so read this as the franchise the studio created, not its own output.
| Fiscal year (end date) | GTA share of Take-Two revenue, as filed |
|---|---|
| FY1998 (Oct 31 1998) | Grand Theft Auto about 7.7% (the FY1999 10-K restates it as 7.6%) |
| FY1999 (Oct 31 1999) | GTA 2 10.3%; Grand Theft Auto 6.1% |
| FY2002 (Oct 31 2002) | GTA 3 on PS2 30.0% (restated as 29.8% a year later); Vice City PS2 7.6%; GTA 3 PC 3.1% |
| FY2003 (Oct 31 2003) | Vice City PS2 33.6%; Vice City PC 2.6%; GTA 3 PS2 2.4% |
| FY2004 (Oct 31 2004) | All GTA products about 34.3% (San Andreas PS2 20.9%) |
| FY2005 (Oct 31 2005) | All GTA products about 38.1% (San Andreas PS2 25.6%) |
| FY2006 / FY2007 / FY2008 | GTA titles 22.4% / 13.1% / 46.2% of net revenue |
| FY2014 (Mar 31 2014) | GTA products about 68.9% |
| FY2026 (Mar 31 2026) | GTA products 12.4% |
Take-Two moved its fiscal year end from October to March in 2010, so later rows cover different months. The two FY1999 figures come from one sentence of one filing, so they can be added: 10.3 + 6.1 = 16.4% of that year's revenue came from the two DMA games. In FY2002, GTA III on PS2 alone was 30.0%, nearly a third. In FY2014, the GTA V year, the series was 68.9%, more than two thirds.
Trivia
- For about nine weeks in 2002 (Mar 27 to May 30, 64 days), the company's registered name was Rockstar Studios Limited.
- DMA Design Holdings Limited, the company Take-Two bought, was registered as Infogrames Multimedia Limited from Mar 22 to Aug 26 1999.
- The DMA purchase price was one pound, plus about $11.9 million of debt Take-Two took on.
- Rockstar's GTA IV page lists Rockstar Toronto as co-developer. Chinatown Wars, Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories list Rockstar Leeds first and Rockstar North second.
For the games themselves, see Grand Theft Auto (1997), GTA III, GTA V and GTA VI. For the founders of the label that bought DMA, see Sam and Dan Houser at Rockstar. For franchise sales, see GTA sales history.
Sources
- Companies House, company 03312220, checked Oct 11 2026
- Companies House, DMA Design search (DMA Design Holdings Limited, 03736771), checked Oct 11 2026
- Take-Two 8-K, filed Oct 8 1999 (DMA purchase), checked Oct 11 2026
- Take-Two 10-K, fiscal 1998, checked Oct 11 2026
- Take-Two 10-K, fiscal 1999, checked Oct 11 2026
- Take-Two 10-K, fiscal 2001, checked Oct 11 2026
- Take-Two 10-K, fiscal 2002, checked Oct 11 2026
- Take-Two 10-K, fiscal 2003, checked Oct 11 2026
- Take-Two 10-K filings index (FY2004, FY2005, FY2008, FY2014, FY2026), checked Oct 11 2026
- Take-Two Exhibit 21, filed May 22 2026, checked Oct 11 2026
- Take-Two results release, Nov 5 2020 (Rockstar Dundee), checked Oct 11 2026
- Take-Two 10-K, filed May 19 2016, checked Oct 11 2026
- Take-Two 10-K, filed May 14 2019 (Benzies matters resolved), checked Oct 11 2026
- Rockstar Games, all games, checked Oct 11 2026
- MCV, "Profile: Scotland's Rockstar North", Aug 28 2009, checked Oct 11 2026
- The List, "The story of Rockstar North", checked Oct 11 2026
- GTA VI Forum FACTS.md, items F1 and F57, checked Oct 11 2026