It seems the rumor that Rockstar Games has multiple projects in development may have received some substantiation. The UK-based independent studio Ruffian Games, notably known for Crackdown 2, is said to be working alongside Rockstar on “upcoming titles.” Ruffian Games confirmed as much in a social media post, while simultaneously announcing that the team is hiring.
The Scottish Games Network recently reported Ruffian Games has positions open for Rockstar-affiliated projects. These positions include permanent Engineer roles, of which there are multiple. Not too long after The Scottish Games Network’s post went live, Ruffian’s Twitter page shared the article in the following tweet, evidently confirming the report’s claim:
We’re #Hiring! https://t.co/W5YqjZODIJ
— Ruffian Games (@RuffianGames) October 11, 2019
Interestingly, Ruffian Games and Rockstar do have history. Some of the independent studio’s developers were once a part of Rockstar’s staff, having worked on the likes of Manhunt and Grand Theft Auto. As a team, Ruffian previously worked on a wide variety of other franchises, too. All of Ruffian’s collaborative work in the past has been with teams from Microsoft Studios. For instance, Ruffian assisted 343 Industries in the development of Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
At present, there is no way of knowing how Ruffian may be assisting Rockstar, or what projects the smaller studio is involved in. However, there exists a number of possibilities. Rumors abound about Rockstar potentially developing a Bully sequel. In addition, the rumor mill rarely goes long without churning out new speculation regarding the inevitable Grand Theft Auto VI.
[Source: The Scottish Games Network, Ruffian Games via VG247]
