Rockstar Vancouver studio closed

There’s a whole lot of corporate restructuring going on over at Rockstar HQ this week, with handler Take-Two Interactive shutting down the developer’s Vancouver studio as part of a consolidation plan for its Canadian offices.

Rockstar Vancouver first opened as Barking Dog Studios in 1998, shipping the spacer strategy game Homeworld: Cataclysm in 2000, and later working on maps for Counter-Strike before its acquisition by Rockstar in 2002.

Most recently, Rockstar Vancouver was the lead team on Max Payne 3, a game that was stuck in development for several years before launching in May 2012. The company was also previously responsible for the controversial PS2 title, Bully, released back in 2006.

According to the press stuff, Rockstar Vancouver’s 35 staffers will be offered positions at Rockstar Toronto, because “a single Canadian team will make for a powerful creative force on future projects.” Kind of like Voltron.

Rockstar Toronto’s site in Oakville, Ontario (just outside of Toronto itself) is currently being expanded, with 50 new positions up for grabs as part of a “strategic partnership with the Ontario government,” although additional information about that has not been disclosed.