Rockstar Games UK Limited is a British video game development company and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Edinburgh. The company was founded as DMA Design in Dundee in 1987 by David Jones, soon hiring former classmates Mike Dailly, Russell Kay, and Steve Hammond. During its early years, DMA Design was backed by its publisher Psygnosis, primarily focusing on Amiga, Atari ST and Commodore 64 games. During this time, they created successful shooters such as Menace and Blood Money, but soon turned to platform games after the release of Lemmings in 1991, which was an international success and led to several sequels and spin-offs. After developing Unirally for Nintendo, DMA Design was set to become one of their main second-party developers, but this partnership ended after Nintendo's disapproval of Body Harvest.
Headquarters at Barclay House in Edinburgh
The original members of the DMA Design team in 2011. From left to right: Russell Kay, Mike Dailly, Steve Hammond, Gary Timmons, David Jones.
Sculpture of lemmings in Seabraes Park, Dundee
Until 2014, Rockstar North leased part of this office block on Greenside Row in Edinburgh.
Dundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was
148,210, giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or 6,420/sq mi, the second-highest in Scotland. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea. Under the name of Dundee City, it forms one of the 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Angus, the city developed into a burgh in the late 12th century and established itself as an important east coast trading port. Rapid expansion was brought on by the Industrial Revolution, particularly in the 19th century when Dundee was the centre of the global jute industry. This, along with its other major industries, gave Dundee its epithet as the city of "jute, jam and journalism".
Image: Dundee Skyline 2017
Image: V&A Dundee Near Completion Feb 2018 (Alex Liivet)
Image: RRS Discovery, Dundee geograph.org.uk 3746481
Image: Taybridge from law 02SEP05