Grand Theft pair set to earn millions

Published on Saturday 24 October 2009 19:56

TWO brothers credited with establishing Scotland as a world player in the development of computer games are poised to hit the jackpot.

Sam and Dan Houser, whose Edinburgh-based studio created the highly controversial but phenomenally successful Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series, earned millions when their company Rockstar North was bought over by an American rival ten years ago

Now the 30-something brothers, who appeared in Time magazine's "100 most influential people of 2009" list, are attracting renewed interest from the international video games industry.

Take-Two, who originally bought up the Rockstar North games division were targeted by the giant Electronics Arts organisation with a 1.3 billion bid last year.

Despite a seven-month pursuit by EA, the move never materialised but industry analysts are predicting a follow-up bid soon and that's good news for the two Rockstar vice-presidents, whose creative muscle and "game developer talent" EA's chief executive John Riccitiello singled out as his primary interest in clinching any deal.

The Housers appear unlikely company executives, more accustomed to T-shirts than boardroom suits. But Rockstar doesn't release any images of the brothers who prefer to let their games speak for them.

They avoid virtually all public appearances, whether corporate profiles, interviews with adoring fans, or even speaking out when their GTA games are criticised by politicians appalled by the violent and sexual content.

But Dan Houser, who writes scripts and provides several voices for the GTA series, did reveal to Variety magazine: "We try to keep a relatively low profile, but not because we're weird or reclusive … in the long term, the less known about us, the more people are able to lose themselves in the world of our games."

And the brothers covet the independence they enjoy under Take-Two's patronage, as Dan Houser explained: "We have always regarded the success of GTA as having bought us the freedom to do what we want creatively and a responsibility to not milk it."

However, even in the sales stratosphere of the games industry, where turnover is measured in billions of pounds, Take-Two is seen as vulnerable.

The current recession has seen catalogue sales fall below the $1 billion mark, with many key titles normally released during the Christmas period delayed until early-to-mid 2010.

Take-Two's chairman Strauss Zelnick said recently: "I don't think anybody feels good about how their stock price has been in the last year.

"What we're looking for is consistency."

However the Housers are expected to carry on regardless. They are understood to have chosen their company name as it's the nearest thing to becoming rockstars themselves.

One insider said: "They are recruiting at their Edinburgh studio for animators, artists and programmers, to ensure an upcoming game called Agent, which will be exclusive to PlayStation 3, hits the streets as soon as possible next year.

"Rockstar is notoriously tight-lipped about future projects, mainly due to exclusivity agreements, but there's much at stake in what is a depressed global games sector."

The fourth version of Grand Theft Auto (GTA IV) sold more than 300 million worth of product in its first week of release in April 2008 and to date has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide.

GTA has been criticised in some quarters for its hard edge involving drug peddling, car-jacking and armed mayhem, and where players can hot-wire cars, act as drug couriers and tattoo themselves.

Rockstar's latest offering Agent, as the title implies, will take players on what has been described as a "paranoid journey" into the world of counter-intelligence, espionage and political assassinations during the height of the Cold War at the end of the 1970s.

Other Rockstar titles include Bully, Red Dead Revolver, Max Payne and Manhunt, and much is being pinned on the company's latest offerings to bring the video games publishing and retailing sector back to life.

Dan Houser claimed he and his brother make games for people who are "culturally savvy", adding that they remain cool about takeovers.

"If I freaked out every time this kind of thing was going on, we wouldn't be coming up on ten years," he said.

"There must have been 20 dramas in that time. It's what I associate with being in America."

Rockstar North has also been at the forefront of a pioneering method of selling game content without a physical product.

Since its release, there has been additional content released for GTA IV which can be downloaded.

Providing several hours worth of extra missions, the first release, The Lost and the Damned, cost 1,600 points in Microsoft microtransactions, the equivalent of around 13.70.

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