Rockstar Games has announced they’ve acquired a new studio located in India known as Dhruva Interactive for $7.9 million, mere pocket change for the gaming giant. The studio will shift hands from struggling publisher Starbreeze to the much more secure and comfortable Rockstar Games who has sold 24 million copies of Red Dead Redemption 2 since launching in October 2018.
This acquisition sees the expansion of Rockstar India which was officially opened in 2016 after being formerly known as Technicolor India. Rockstar Games is a massive company with upwards of 2,000 employees coast to coast in America, across Europe, and as noted, India.
Founded back in 1997, Dhruva Interactive was India’s first gaming developer and has contributed to numerous notable titles such as Payday 2 and Forza Horizon 4. Dhruva largely focuses on outsourcing art and will continue to work on their current projects uninterrupted while simultaneously merging with Rockstar India’s 500+ person team.
“Dhruva Interactive has been a beacon of Indian game development for decades and we are excited to bring them into the Rockstar family,” said Daniel Smith, Studio Manager of Rockstar India. “The addition of the Dhruva team to the existing talent at Rockstar India will expand the studio’s capabilities and reinforces our belief in and commitment to the local development community.”
While all future Rockstar Games titles are currently under wraps, one can imagine this expansion will allow the team to work on whatever hefty new project is being made at a faster, more efficient rate.
“Rockstar Games are the undisputed leaders of innovation and creativity in modern game development, said Dhruva CEO and Founder Rajesh Rao. “Dhruva Interactive was founded with the aim of creating a world-class game development community in India, and so bringing the Dhruva team under the Rockstar Games label is further proof that we have succeeded in creating a talented team that can contribute to the best games in the world while helping to create a thriving local game developer community in India.”
Rajesh Rao will continue to assist Rockstar Games in strengthing India’s gaming scene and ensuring the transition goes smoothly. The transaction between both Starbreeze and Rockstar Games is expected to close in the coming weeks.
