Dhruva Interactive

Prior to founding Dhruva Interactive, Rajesh Rao was a programmer and engineering student.[1] His final assignment in engineering was in multimedia, wherein he created his own multimedia engine, which he used as the foundation of a new multimedia company he then founded in 1995.[1] His father provided him with seed money for a bank loan with which he acquired a computer and 14.4 kbp modem, and Rao began his company as a one-man operation on 15 March 1995.[2] By 1997, the company had grown to five people.[2] In February 1997, Rao's company was approached by Intel, who proposed them to develop software for their new Pentium II chip; the two companies signed an agreement in March and Rao's company developed a rendering engine for the Pentium II.[1][2] According to Rao, this deal marked the end for "Dhruva 1.0" and the beginning of "Dhruva 2.0", with the company reinventing itself as a video game company through its deal with Intel.[2] Rao formally founded Dhruva Interactive on 15 March 1997.[1][3] Thus, Dhruva was first game company in India.[3][4]

In December 2016, Swedish video game developer Starbreeze Studios announced that it had acquired a 90.5% stake in Dhruva for US$7 million in cash and $1.5 million , including an earn-out agreement of $800,000.[5] At the time of the acquisition, Dhruva had 320 employees distributed across three studios: two in Bangalore and one in Dehradun.[5] In May 2019, Starbreeze, suffering from financial issues, agreed to sell Dhruva off to Rockstar Games, an American video game publisher.[6] For a payment of US$7.9 million , Rockstar received Starbreeze's stake in Dhruva (then increased to 91.82%), with the deal expected to close later in the first half of 2019.[6] Dhruva employees were transferred to Rockstar India, Rockstar Games' existing operations in the country.[6][7] The acquisition closed on 22 May.[8]