Former GTA dev on the studio that became GTA 5-maker Rockstar North: “There was a spirit of creativity and freedom that just doesn’t exist today”

Here’s a bit of history you might not know

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One Rockstar veteran has reflected on the history of the developer that would become known for the Grand Theft Auto series, and how it started off as a very different studio.

Before it became Rockstar North in Edinburgh, Scotland, GTA’s developer was called DMA Design, founded in 1987 in Dundee by David Jones. The studio’s two most well-known games were Lemmings in 1991, and the first GTA game six years later in 1997.

It’s this studio that the ever-chatty Obbe Vermeij, former technical director at Rockstar North, is remembering in the tweet from earlier this week, just below. Vermeij reflects on DMA Design’s arguably lesser-known games like Hired Guns, Blood Money, Body Harvest, Space Station Silicon Valley, and Wild Metal.

Dma-design (1987-2000) made a bunch of games worth playing before morphing into Rockstar North.Hired Guns, Blood Money, Body Harvest, Space Station Silicon Valley, Wild Metal.Some games fell short or never made the finish line.Attack! Clan Wars, Tanktics, Covert, Zenith,… pic.twitter.com/e9VoP4UgH0August 19, 2024

More crucially, however, Vermeij believes DMA Design represents “a spirit of creativity and freedom that just doesn’t exist today.” This isn’t the first time Vermeij has soured on modern game development, in particular atRockstar Gamesitself - earlier this year, Vermeij told of howhe left Rockstar after GTA 4 because the series had become “too dark, too depressing almost.”

“I thought GTA 4 wasn’t as good and as fun as the games before. And I thought that the next one was going to be like, even darker. I’m happy to see that I was wrong. GTA 5 is a lot more light-hearted than GTA 4. So I got that wrong,” Vermeij continued at the time.

DMA Design began rapidly expanding for GTA 3, and in March 2002, it was renamed to Rockstar North under the direction of Dan Houser, with the goal of better integrating it into the wider Rockstar organization. At the last count in 2018, Rockstar North numbered 650 employees, having began by having just one employee in David Jones as DMA Design.

If you’re curious about the history of DMA Design, Vermeij points his Twitter followers in the direction ofthis website, which chronicles things like staff pictures, the establishing of the studio, and hits like Lemmings.

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GTA 6is currently the focus of Rockstar, and it’sstill on course to launch late next year in fall 2025.

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.

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