2. Parent Take Two =Horizontal Integration
Company
=Vertical Integration
Publisher Rockstar
Developer
Rockstar Euphoria RAGE Game Engine
San Diego
Take Two interactive is the boss of all the other
companies. Essentially, they put the most money into the
game, they ask Rockstar to make a game, who in turn
assign it to a certain division of Rockstar. In this case it was
Distributor Ditan Rockstar San Diego that made Red Dead Redemption.
Rockstar San Diego’s job is to make the game, and then
make sure it gets distributed. So, in order to make the
game they use a game engine, Euphoria (By Natural
Motion). This is horizontal integration. Then to distribute
the game, they used a distribution company named Ditan.
Ditan distributes the game to warehouses so the game
can be sold in actual shops or over the internet.
3. What is natural motion?
As part of the horizontal integration that Rockstar San
Diego utilizes, it uses Euphoria, a Game Engine. The
game engine is essentially a blank canvas for the
game developers to use (Rockstar San Diego) As you
can see from the video, the Euphoria engine is
different from a ragdoll engine, it’s more realistic. The
reason Rockstar San Diego would want to use this
engine is because of this fact, therefore the game can
be linked more with the medium of films, as films
feature real people, thus being far more realistic
game. They remedied this slightly by using [probably]
the most realistic game engine money can buy.
Red Dead Redemption uses cross-media synergy very
often in the game, linking itself to Western movies.
That’s why it was important for Rockstar to use an
engine that can also be linked to Western movies.
The euphoria game engine is propriety software,
therefore it’s held under license by Rockstar.
4. Who is Rockstar San Diego?
Rockstar San Diego, formerly called Angel Studios.
Rockstar San Diego produced
the (lesser known) prequel to
Red Dead Redemption. This
was Red Dead Revolver. This is
probably why they were
chosen to produce the game,
as they had already worked
with the prequel.
5. Who is Take Two Interactive?
Take Two completely owns Rockstar, they ask
Rockstar to make a game, who in turn delegate the
game making process to one of it’s many divisions.
[Recently though, it was found that Rockstar’s contract with T2 is about to end]
They employ over 2000 people in their international They are a global company,
headquarters located in places such as Windsor. Their main this company’s an example
headquarters is located in New York. of globalisation
6. Rockstar
The subsidiary of Take Two Interactive
How a game is produced/
the production hierarchy
Etc...
7. What is Red Dead Redemption available on?
Xbox 360 :D Playstation 3
The Xbox and PS3 are aimed towards
teenagers and adult audiences. Usually,
hardcore gamer fans, not casual gamers.
The reason therefore why RDR was
produced on these consoles is the fact
that Rockstar marketed towards
hardcore gamers, people who knew all
the games coming out at the time and
were eagerly anticipating this game.
8. Technological Convergence
Another reason why Rockstar chose Xbox and PS3 as their
chief gaming platforms is because of what else they have to
offer. They both have internet access (And on the latest
Xbox, access via Wi-Fi) This is extremely good for Rockstar, as
it means that they can produce DLCs for the game
(Downloadable Content), with the growing use of buying
games over the internet, a DLC is a good stepping stone to
selling games over the internet.
Undead Nightmare is perhaps the most interesting
DLC for RDR. It completely changes the game,
adding zombies, the sasquatch, a unicorn and the 4
horse-men of the apocalypse. Firstly, being
interesting as it takes RDR, which is a rather serious
game, and then gives it a less serious tone.
More interestingly though, this DLC is available on
its own as a disk, sold as a game itself and available
to buy in game shops (If any are still operating) ,
this is an interesting way to market a DLC, as a
game itself, as it can potentially attract two types of
gamers, those who were already fans of RDR and
those who didn’t buy RDR but are interested in this
one. (Because it has zombies)
