Look, everyone knows Rockstar Games as the studio that basically owns the month of November whenever they decide to release something. We're talking about a company that’s so big, other developers literally move their release dates just to avoid getting crushed in the crossfire. But it wasn't always just $GTA$ heists and cowboys.
Honestly, the real story of all Rockstar Games in order is kind of a chaotic mess of weird experiments, 1970s cult film adaptations, and some of the most controversial "snuff film" simulators ever made. If you only know them for Grand Theft Auto V or Red Dead Redemption 2, you’re missing the era where they were making games about table tennis and Austin Powers. No, seriously.
The Early Days: Before the "R Star" Was Even a Thing
Before Sam and Dan Houser were the kings of New York gaming, there was BMG Interactive. In the late 90s, the Houser brothers were working there when they helped publish the original Grand Theft Auto (1997). It was top-down, it was pixellated, and it was glorious. When Take-Two Interactive bought BMG’s assets in 1998, Rockstar Games was officially born.
They didn't just jump into 3D. They started by cleaning up their existing plate and throwing some weird stuff at the wall to see what stuck.
- Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 (1999): The first expansion, and weirdly, the only time the series stayed in the UK.
- Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999): More top-down chaos, but with a weird futuristic vibe and "respect" meters for different gangs.
- Monster Truck Madness 64 (1999): Yes, Rockstar actually published a monster truck game for the N64.
- Thrasher: Skate and Destroy (1999): This was their "realistic" answer to Tony Hawk. It was hard as nails.
- Evel Knievel (1999): A Game Boy Color title that most people have rightfully forgotten.
Then there’s the stuff that makes you do a double-take. Did you know Rockstar made two Austin Powers games for the Game Boy Color in 2000? Oh, Behave! and Welcome to My Underground Lair! were basically just mini-game collections with some "Shagadelic" soundbites. It was a weird time.
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Moving Into the 3D Era: The Revolution
In 2001, everything changed. You've probably heard the stories. Grand Theft Auto III didn't just sell well; it fundamentally broke the industry. It turned gaming from a "child’s hobby" into something that felt like a living, breathing Scorsese film.
- Midnight Club: Street Racing (2000): Rockstar San Diego’s first big hit under the label. It was fast, neon-soaked, and it paved the way for the street racing craze of the early 2000s.
- Smuggler’s Run (2000): A cult classic about driving cargo across borders. Simple, but the physics were wild for the time.
- Oni (2001): Developed by Bungie (the Halo guys!) but published by Rockstar on PS2. It was an anime-inspired brawler that was way ahead of its time.
- Grand Theft Auto III (2001): The big one. Liberty City. 3D. Complete freedom. It was the moment Rockstar became Rockstar.
The Golden Run (2002–2005)
After GTA III, the studio went on a tear. They weren't just making sequels; they were acquiring studios like Neo Software (Rockstar Vienna) and Angel Studios (Rockstar San Diego).
- State of Emergency (2002): A riot simulator. It was mindless fun but got hit hard by the media for its violence.
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002): 1980s Miami. Pink suits. A soundtrack that is still, to this day, arguably the best in gaming history.
- Max Payne (2001/2002): While Remedy developed the first two, Rockstar published the console ports and eventually bought the IP. Bullet time became a household name.
- Manhunt (2003): This is probably the darkest game ever made by a major studio. You play as James Earl Cash, a death row inmate forced to perform "executions" for a snuff film director. It was banned in multiple countries. It's still deeply uncomfortable to play.
- Red Dead Revolver (2004): Originally a Capcom project that Rockstar rescued. It wasn't an open world yet, but it laid the foundation for John Marston’s eventual journey.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004): The biggest game on the PS2. Three cities. RPG mechanics. You could get CJ fat or make him a gym rat. It felt like a whole world inside a little black disc.
The Experimental Mid-2000s
By 2005, Rockstar was the biggest name in the business. But they started getting experimental again. They released The Warriors in 2005, an adaptation of a 1979 film. Most movie tie-ins suck. This one was a masterpiece. It captured the grit of NYC gang life better than almost anything else.
Then came Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis in 2006.
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People thought it was a joke. "The GTA guys made a ping pong game?" But it was actually a tech demo for their new RAGE engine (Rockstar Advanced Game Engine). It looked photorealistic at the time.
In late 2006, they gave us Bully. People expected "GTA in a school," but what they got was a charming, seasonal story about a kid named Jimmy Hopkins trying to survive Bullworth Academy. It’s one of the few Rockstar games that actually feels "sweet" at times, despite the slingshots and stink bombs.
The HD Era and Beyond
When the PS3 and Xbox 360 arrived, the "order" of games slowed down. Quality over quantity became the mantra. Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) traded the wacky fun of San Andreas for a gritty, depressing immigrant story in a hyper-detailed Liberty City.
- Midnight Club: Los Angeles (2008): The last great street racer from the studio.
- Beaterator (2009): A music mixer for the PSP made with Timbaland. Like I said—they were weird!
- Red Dead Redemption (2010): This was the "GTA with horses" everyone wanted, but it ended up being a soul-crushing tragedy about the death of the American West.
- L.A. Noire (2011): Developed by Team Bondi but heavily influenced by Rockstar. The facial tech was insane, even if the "Doubt" button turned Cole Phelps into a psychopath.
- Max Payne 3 (2012): Rockstar took the reigns from Remedy and moved Max to Brazil. It’s arguably the best-feeling third-person shooter ever made. The physics are heavy, the violence is visceral, and the story is bleak as hell.
The Modern Giants
Then we hit the current era. Grand Theft Auto V (2013) came out and basically never left the charts. It has sold over 220 million copies. Think about that. That's more than the population of most countries.
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- Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018): A prequel that redefined what "detail" means in a video game. Your horse's anatomy reacts to the cold. You have to clean your gun. It’s a slow, methodical masterpiece that feels more like a simulator than an action game.
- Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition (2021): A rare miss. It was a buggy, outsourced mess at launch that tarnished the legacy of the PS2 classics, though it’s been patched up since.
- Grand Theft Auto VI (2026): The big one. Set in Leonida (Florida), it’s currently the most anticipated piece of entertainment on the planet.
Real Insights for the Rockstar Completionist
If you're trying to play through all Rockstar Games in order, don't just stick to the main hits. You'll miss the soul of the company.
The "Stories" games on the PSP (Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories) are actually full-fat GTA experiences that many people skipped. Vice City Stories in particular has a whole "Empire Building" mechanic that's better than anything in the main games.
Also, don't sleep on The Warriors. If you can find a way to play it today, the brawling mechanics are still some of the best in the genre.
Next Steps for You:
- Check your platforms: Many of the older titles like Bully and Manhunt are available on modern consoles through backward compatibility or digital stores.
- Play Max Payne 3: If you want to see the pinnacle of Rockstar's combat design before they focused entirely on open worlds, this is it.
- Watch the GTA VI trailers: If you haven't seen the 2026 footage yet, go watch it to see how far the RAGE engine has come since that ping pong game in 2006.
The evolution of these games isn't just about better graphics. It's about a studio that started by making "shagadelic" Game Boy games and ended up creating the most profitable entertainment products in human history.