Rockstar Leeds tired of ports, working on new IP

by Christopher Grant { Aug 12th 2007 at 1:35PM }

The latest issue of Develop Magazine features an interview with Rockstar Leeds studio head Gordon Hall, who professes a desire to move on from portable ports – his studio was responsible for the PSP ports of Rockstar staples like Midnight Club, and The Warriors as well as two portable Grand Theft Auto titles – and develop their own new-gen IP. Hall said, "We're going to be branching out further into next-gen - we've done original work on an existing franchise, but now we want to work on new IPs, and are looking at what we can do on Xbox 360 and PS3."

Hall's team – who previously worked on mostly GBA titles as Mobius Entertainment before being acquired by Rockstar in 2004 – has been relegated to the handheld "ghetto" for some time. Current development on ports of Bully and Table Tennis for the Xbox 360 and Wii platforms should be decent practice for their next project, of which Hall says, "... it's a short development cycle, just 18 months, and it really excites me." An 18-month dev cycle? Maybe something for XBLA and PlayStation Network, then? And what about a San Andreas Stories game? And what's with all the questions?

Tags: Rockstar, RockstarLeeds, TakeTwo

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

hvnlysoldr @ Aug 12th 2007 2:10PM

So they're developing a game for Wii or not?

aaron @ Aug 12th 2007 3:34PM

It just Table Tennis for right now hvnlysoldr. Stop asking and go play Cooking Mama or something.

Nintysheep are so cute this time of year. So full of hope...

Yeah, where is SA Stories? Is that not possible on the PSP? I'd like to see it as the PC-version (better frame rate) on the 360/PS3. Still, that's unlikely.

Sad_guy @ Aug 12th 2007 2:12PM

Give us some PC ports damn it!

Akiosarin @ Aug 14th 2007 6:51PM

oh cool, I live like 5 seconds away from RSL, never seen the building...but I know its there.....somewhere behind many buildings =P

Adam @ Aug 12th 2007 2:52PM

Cool i live in Leeds, UK. Never knew they had a studio here.

Jamma @ Aug 12th 2007 3:57PM

Yeah, it's right near the station. I live in Leeds as well and had to get a game replaced once. I live 5 miles away and it still took 2 weeks to be delivered back to me!!!

LordPaul @ Aug 12th 2007 4:43PM

Aye, I didn't know until I went for a job interview there last year!

Nice offices, didn't get the job cos they wanted cheap rather than experienced ;)

ForceUnleashed @ Aug 12th 2007 3:05PM

Well we can only hope it will be as good as GTA....

Please note that I don't want it to be a GTA clone. I just want it to be of GTA quality...which in my mind is high quality.

lawlersauce @ Aug 12th 2007 8:58PM

Just so you know, this is a different rockstar than the one that made GTA...maybe you didn't know that

lawlersauce @ Aug 12th 2007 9:00PM

My bad, they did do the stories...which were kind of lame...but whatever.

ForceUnleashed @ Aug 12th 2007 9:30PM

But aren't they all part of the MAIN company called Rockstar?

I understand what you're saying though...different divisions under the same corporation. Either way though its the same main comp thats publishing the game so from the public standpoint they won't really care if its Rockstar "Leeds" or "London", etc....

Rob Accomando @ Aug 12th 2007 4:39PM

it's about goddamn time

James @ Aug 12th 2007 4:43PM

MARCHING ON TOGETHER!

jamma @ Aug 12th 2007 5:00PM

or, not considering the minus 12 at the mo :(

bummed about the whole rockstar thing as well, i hoped they would do a UK based GTA for the psp

James @ Aug 12th 2007 4:43PM

It always surprises me when I remember that GTA games (and their ports) are made in the UK.

Good to hear they're working on something other than a port. Pity I don't care for non-GTA Rockstar games. They'll have to show me something first.

Mabui @ Aug 12th 2007 4:44PM

Best of luck to them, it would be nice if something really cool came out on the wii (Other than, the stuff I already know about), short development cycles could mean anything (From smaller titles, to a wii title, or even a unique Ds game)

Aj Collins @ Aug 12th 2007 4:51PM

Rockstar Leeds isn't working on the Bully port, Rockstar Vancouver is.

Anticrawl @ Aug 12th 2007 7:27PM

Word of the street. @ Aug 13th 2007 1:30AM

If they do a GTA SAS I wont buy it.

A)Because GTA SA sucked compared to GTA3 and GTA VC hell even compared with GTA VCS,What the hell where they thinking?.The music was awful,the driving sucked(PS2).

B)If its for PSP it will be ported and it will be cheaper in the Ps2 but it will suck in the Ps2 because it will be poorly ported.

C)Rockstar games are so over rated.