If you have ever stolen a car in Los Santos, robbed a train in the Wild West, or spent three hours just exploring a virtual city because it felt more alive than some real ones — you have experienced what Rockstar Games does better than anyone else in the world. But behind every groundbreaking game, every controversial headline, and every billion-dollar launch, there is a corporate structure that most fans have never thought about. Who actually owns Rockstar Games?
The answer is Take-Two Interactive — but the full story involves two British brothers who moved to New York with a wild idea, a 1998 acquisition that changed gaming history forever, and the most anticipated game release of all time sitting right around the corner.
What Is Rockstar Games?
Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive.
Founding members of the company were Terry Donovan, Gary Foreman, Dan Houser, Sam Houser, and Jamie King, who worked for Take-Two at the time, and of which the Houser brothers were previously executives at BMG Interactive. Sam Houser heads the studio as president.
Rockstar is the studio behind some of the most culturally significant video games ever made — Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne, Bully, and L.A. Noire. The most recent main game in the series, Grand Theft Auto V, has sold over 200 million copies since its release in September 2013, making it the second-best-selling video game of all time.
Who Owns Rockstar Games Right Now in 2026?
The direct answer: Rockstar Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. — a publicly traded American company listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the ticker symbol TTWO.
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company that develops, publishes, and markets interactive entertainment worldwide through labels including Rockstar Games, 2K, and Zynga.
Rockstar Games does not trade on any stock exchange independently. It has no separate shareholders, no outside investors, and no independent board. It is entirely owned and controlled by Take-Two Interactive — which in turn is publicly traded and owned by its shareholders.
Take-Two Interactive’s board is chaired by Strauss Zelnick, with a majority of seats held by independent directors. The company follows a one-share-one-vote model with no dual-class or golden shares — meaning voting rights scale proportionally with economic ownership and no outside investor holds a reserved board seat.
Ownership and Key Stakeholders Table
| Owner / Shareholder | Type | Stake | Key Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Take-Two Interactive (NASDAQ: TTWO) | Direct Parent Company | 100% of Rockstar Games | Publicly traded on NASDAQ; owns Rockstar, 2K, and Zynga |
| The Vanguard Group | Largest Institutional Shareholder | ~10.9–11.26% of TTWO | Holding valued at ~$4.12 billion as of Q1 2025 |
| BlackRock, Inc. | Second Largest Institutional Shareholder | High single-digit % of TTWO | World’s largest asset manager; major TTWO index holder |
| State Street Corporation | Institutional Investor | Mid single-digit % of TTWO | Major passive index fund manager |
| Capital Group | Institutional Investor | Mid single-digit % of TTWO | Active long-term investment manager |
| Savvy Games Group (Saudi Arabia PIF) | Strategic Investor | Transferred from PIF in Q4 2024 | Saudi sovereign wealth fund’s gaming subsidiary; formerly ~15% of PIF assets |
| Strauss Zelnick | Chairman & CEO of Take-Two | Modest insider stake | CEO since 2007; sets all strategic direction for Rockstar |
| Sam Houser | President of Rockstar Games | No public ownership stake | Co-founder; leads Rockstar’s creative direction |
| Public / Retail Shareholders | Individual Investors | Remaining TTWO shares | Anyone can buy TTWO stock on the NASDAQ |
The Origin Story: Two Brothers, One Acquisition, and the Birth of Rockstar
The Rockstar story begins with a strategic acquisition. On March 12, 1998, Take-Two Interactive announced its acquisition of the assets of dormant British video game publisher BMG Interactive from BMG Entertainment.
In December 1998, the Houser brothers, Terry Donovan, and Jamie King established Rockstar Games as the “high-end” publishing label of Take-Two. This acquisition was later said to be the birth of a new philosophy in game development. The Houser brothers brought with them not just business acumen, but a vision for games that could tackle mature themes and storytelling in ways the industry had never seen before.
In exchange, Take-Two was to issue 1.85 million shares (approximately 16%) of its common stock to BMG Entertainment. Through this acquisition, Take-Two obtained several of BMG Interactive’s former intellectual properties, including DMA Design’s Grand Theft Auto and Space Station Silicon Valley.
That single deal — struck for 1.85 million shares of a then-small gaming company — turned out to be one of the most valuable acquisitions in the history of entertainment. Grand Theft Auto alone would go on to generate tens of billions of dollars in revenue over the next three decades.
Samuel Houser (born November 1971) is a British video game producer who co-founded Rockstar Games in 1998 and serves as its president. He is the executive producer and key creative director for the Grand Theft Auto series, which has generated billions in revenue through innovative open-world gameplay that satirizes American culture and criminality.
Dan Houser, the other half of the creative duo, served as lead writer on virtually every major Rockstar title before leaving the company in 2020. His departure was one of the biggest news stories in gaming that year — but Sam stayed, and Rockstar kept going.
Take-Two Interactive: The Company Behind Rockstar
To truly understand who owns Rockstar, you have to understand Take-Two Interactive — the parent company that has shaped everything Rockstar has done since 1998.
Strauss Zelnick serves as Chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive. He has held the CEO position since 2007, marking over 14 years of leadership. Zelnick is also the founder and managing partner of ZMC, a private equity firm specializing in media and communications investments. Under Zelnick’s guidance, Take-Two Interactive has achieved significant milestones, including the successful launches of major titles like Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2.
Zelnick is known for one guiding philosophy: quality over quantity. Rockstar releases games far less frequently than any of its competitors — but when it does release a game, it almost always redefines what video games are capable of. That is not an accident. It is a deliberate strategy that Zelnick and Sam Houser have maintained together for nearly two decades.
Take-Two also owns 2K Games (home of NBA 2K, Borderlands, BioShock, and Civilization) and Zynga (the mobile gaming giant behind Words With Friends and FarmVille), acquired for $12.7 billion in 2022. But it is Rockstar — and specifically GTA — that accounts for the largest share of Take-Two’s value.
GTA 6: The Most Anticipated Game in History
Right now, in 2026, the single most important event in Rockstar’s history since GTA V is about to happen.
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick called Grand Theft Auto 6 the “most anticipated entertainment property of all time.” GTA 6 is set in Vice City — a fictional version of Miami — and will launch on May 26, 2026 on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.
The road to May 26 was not smooth. Rockstar Games announced on May 2, 2025, that the game’s release would be delayed from a planned fall 2025 release to a May 26, 2026 launch. The announcement sent shares of Take-Two tumbling by more than 8%. Zelnick said the “ambition and complexity” of Grand Theft Auto 6 is greater than any other game Rockstar has ever created.
The financial expectations around GTA 6 are staggering. DFC Intelligence estimates $1 billion in preorders before the game’s release. The firm’s analysts also expect GTA 6 to generate $3.2 billion of revenue during its first year on the market.
To put that in context — GTA 6 is expected to generate more revenue in its first year than most Hollywood studios generate in their entire film libraries. This is the scale at which Rockstar Games operates.
Saudi Arabia’s Strategic Bet on Rockstar’s Parent
One of the most interesting recent developments in Rockstar’s ownership story involves a sovereign wealth fund from the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) no longer holds its 11,414,680 TTWO share position directly. Instead, that stock position has been transferred to Savvy Games Group, a subsidiary of PIF, according to Reuters. Savvy Games Group owns stakes in several video game companies and is the owner of Niantic, Embracer, and Scopely. The change to the position comes with PIF among the largest Take-Two shareholders and in the months ahead of the highly anticipated release of GTA 6.
This move signals something important: the world’s most powerful sovereign wealth funds now view gaming — and specifically companies with Rockstar-level intellectual property — as strategic long-term investments, not just financial bets.
The Global Rockstar Studios Network
Since 1999, several companies acquired by or established under Take-Two have become part of Rockstar Games. Rockstar Canada (later renamed Rockstar Toronto) became the first in 1999, and Rockstar Australia became the most recent addition in 2025. All companies organized under Rockstar Games bear the “Rockstar” name and logo.
Today, Rockstar Games operates a global network of studios across New York, San Diego, Toronto, Edinburgh (Rockstar North), Leeds, Lincoln, London, and now Australia — all working together under the creative direction of Sam Houser and the corporate oversight of Strauss Zelnick and Take-Two Interactive.
The Bottom Line
Rockstar Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO). Take-Two acquired the assets that became Rockstar in 1998, when it purchased BMG Interactive from BMG Entertainment for 1.85 million shares of Take-Two stock. Rockstar was formally established in December 1998 by Sam Houser, Dan Houser, Terry Donovan, Jamie King, and Gary Foreman.
The largest shareholders of Take-Two — and therefore the indirect owners of Rockstar — are The Vanguard Group (~11.26%), BlackRock, and State Street, alongside Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group, which transferred a large TTWO stake from the Public Investment Fund in Q4 2024. Strauss Zelnick serves as Chairman and CEO of Take-Two, while Sam Houser leads Rockstar as its president.
With GTA 6 launching on May 26, 2026, expected to generate $3.2 billion in its first year, Rockstar Games is about to remind the world exactly why it is the most valuable studio in gaming.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q1. Who owns Rockstar Games in 2026?
Rockstar Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), which is publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
Q2. Is Rockstar Games publicly traded?
No. Rockstar Games is not a standalone public company — investors gain exposure through Take-Two Interactive (TTWO), its parent company.
Q3. Who founded Rockstar Games and when?
Rockstar Games was founded in December 1998 by Sam Houser, Dan Houser, Terry Donovan, Jamie King, and Gary Foreman as a publishing label under Take-Two Interactive.
Q4. Who is the current CEO of Rockstar’s parent company?
Strauss Zelnick has served as Chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive since 2007 and oversees all strategic decisions affecting Rockstar Games.
Q5. Who is the president of Rockstar Games?
Sam Houser, co-founder and creative visionary behind the Grand Theft Auto series, serves as President of Rockstar Games in 2026.
Q6. Who are the biggest shareholders of Take-Two Interactive?
The largest shareholders of TTWO are The Vanguard Group (~11.26%), BlackRock, State Street, and Saudi Arabia’s Savvy Games Group, which holds a transferred stake from PIF.
Q7. When is GTA 6 releasing and how much will it make?
GTA 6 is scheduled to launch on May 26, 2026, with analysts projecting $1 billion in preorders and $3.2 billion in first-year revenue.
Q8. Does Dan Houser still work at Rockstar Games?
No. Dan Houser, co-founder and lead writer behind most GTA and Red Dead titles, left Rockstar Games in 2020. His brother Sam Houser remains as president.