Rockstar Games to open London studio

Job postings by the developer-publisher imprint of Take Two have revealed the company’s intentions to set up a new development studio in "the heart of London" to go alongside its European publishing HQ on London’s King’s Road.

"We are looking for passionate, creative and self motivated people to form the core of this new studio," says the background details for the roles open, which include vacancies for a lead animator and engine programmer.

It’s not yet known when the studio will be officially open or what projects the team is at work on – Rockstar was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.

London is already home to a number of game development teams, including SCEE’s large Soho-based London Studios, plus the likes of Rocksteady, Kuju London and Curve. The city is also host to a number of mobile games development specialists including Morpheme, Ideaworks 3D and Shadowlight.

Rockstar’s new London team boosts the company’s roster of development offices back up to six after the closure of its Vienna, Austria studio in May.

Of its other studios in the UK, Edinburgh’s Rockstar North is of course responsible for the GTA series, while the Leeds team has produced the PSP spin-offs. Table Tennis, The Warriors and Bully/Canis Canem Edit were produced at the North American San Diego, Toronto and Vancouver studios respectively.

Rockstar Lincoln, meanwhile, is a dedicated QA studio based in the UK’s Midlands. The company also has a New York City publishing office.