Former GTA developer on the studio that later became GTA 5: Rockstar North: "There was a spirit of creativity and freedom that simply doesn't exist anymore today."

A Rockstar veteran has reflected on the history of the developer made famous by the Grand Theft Auto series and how it started out as a completely different studio.

Before becoming Rockstar North in Edinburgh, Scotland, the developer of GTA was called DMA Design and was founded in Dundee by David Jones in 1987. The studio's two most famous games were Lemmings in 1991 and the first GTA game six years later in 1997.

That's the studio that the ever-talkative Obbe Vermeij, former technical director at Rockstar North, remembers in the tweet from earlier this week, which appears directly below. Vermeij reflects on DMA Design's arguably lesser-known games, such as Hired Guns, Blood Money, Body Harvest, Space Station Silicon Valley, and Wild Metal.

Dma-design (1987-2000) made a lot of games worth playing before it became Rockstar North. Hired Guns, Blood Money, Body Harvest, Space Station Silicon Valley, Wild Metal. Some games didn't quite make it or never made it to the finish line. Attack! Clan Wars, Tanktics, Covert, Zenith, … pic.twitter.com/e9VoP4UgH019 August 2024

More importantly, though, Vermeij believes DMA Design “represents a spirit of creativity and freedom that just doesn't exist anymore today.” It's not the first time Vermeij has grown tired of modern game development, particularly at Rockstar Games itself – earlier this year, Vermeij said he left Rockstar after GTA 4 because the series had become “too dark, almost too depressing.”

“I thought GTA 4 wouldn't be as good and entertaining as the previous games. And I thought the next one would be even darker. I'm glad I was wrong. GTA 5 is much more light-hearted than GTA 4. So I was wrong there,” Vermeij continued at the time.

DMA Design began to expand rapidly for GTA 3 and was renamed Rockstar North in March 2002 under the leadership of Dan Houser, with the goal of better integrating it into the larger Rockstar organization. At last count in 2018, Rockstar North had 650 employees, having started out with just one employee in David Jones as DMA Design.

If you're curious about the history of DMA Design, Vermeij directs his Twitter followers to this website, which documents things like staff photos, the founding of the studio, and hits like Lemmings.

GTA6 is currently the focus of Rockstar, and it is still on track for market launch at the end of next year in autumn 2025.

Former GTA developer on the studio that later became GTA 5: Rockstar North: “There was a spirit of creativity and freedom that simply doesn't exist anymore today.”

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Former GTA developer on the studio that later became GTA 5: Rockstar North: “There was a spirit of creativity and freedom that simply doesn't exist anymore today.”

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