Rockstar acquires Mad Doc

Despite a rash of show-stopping crash bugs in the Xbox 360 edition of Bully, Rockstar Games was apparently pleased with the port job performed by Mad Doc Software. The Grand Theft Auto developer today announced that it has acquired the studio and renamed it Rockstar New England. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Before handling the Xbox 360 port of Bully, Mad Doc developed Star Trek: Legacy for the PC and Xbox 360, as well as PC games like the real-time strategy game Empire Earth II, and the Dungeon Siege expansion Legends of Aranna. The studio has also created its own game engine and AI middleware solutions.

Rockstar did not announce what its new branch's first project would be, but Mad Doc founder and Rockstar New England studio head Dr. Ian Lane Davis said in a statement that the team is "eager to bring our expertise to bear in the character-driven, open-world stories that make Rockstar Games titles so uniquely compelling."