Rockstar Lincoln

Steve Marsden and David Cooke, with assistance from Andrew Hewson, founded Spidersoft on 5 May 1992.[1] Marsden and Cooke had previously developed the ZX Spectrum game Technician Ted, which was published by Hewson's Hewson Consultants in 1984.[2] Spidersoft mostly developed ports or adaptations of other games, predominantly for the Game Boy, Game Gear and MS-DOS, including pinball video games developed by Digital Illusions.[1] The latter were published by 21st Century Entertainment, the successor to Hewson Consultants that Hewson had founded in 1991.[1][3] Following the success of Pinball Fantasies in 1992, the game was ported to several other platforms. Spidersoft developed those for the Atari Jaguar, Game Boy, PlayStation, and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, all released in 1995. 21st Century Entertainment subsequently acquired a controlling stake in Spidersoft, aiming to ensure a steady supply of pinball games without having to rely on third-party contractors. According to Hewson, Digital Illusions, the developer of Pinball Fantasies, was apparently looking to cease developing games in the pinball niche market.[4] By the time of the acquisition, Spidersoft had roughly 20 employees.[1] In March 1998, 21 Century Entertainment went out of business.[5]

On 1 June 1998, Take-Two Interactive announced that it had acquired Spidersoft, which would henceforth be known as Tarantula Studios.[6] As part of the deal, Tarantula Studio would shift its focus on game development solely for the Game Boy and Game Boy Color, starting with Montezuma's Return!, In-Fisherman Bass Hunter and an unannounced project for the former platform, as well as Three Lions and Space Station Silicon Valley for the latter.[6] Notable games developed by Tarantula Studios include Las Vegas Cool Hand (1998),[7] Montezuma's Return! (1998),[8] Rats! (1998),[9] Space Station Silicon Valley (1999),[10][11] Jim Henson's Muppets (1999),[12] Evel Knievel (1999),[13][14] Grand Theft Auto (1999),[15][16] Grand Theft Auto 2 (2000),[17] Austin Powers: Welcome to My Underground Lair! (2000),[18][19] and Austin Powers: Oh, Behave! (2000).[20][21] Amongst Tarantula Studios' games, some have received very negative reception: On IGN, Evel Knievel and Jim Henson's Muppets each received a review score of 2.0/10, the site's lowest-ever score for a Game Boy Color game, where Evel Knievel was said to be the overall worst game on the platform.[22]

By 2001, the development and quality assurance departments of Tarantula Studios had been separated, of which the former was shut down in 2002.[23] The remainder was integrated into Take-Two Interactive's Rockstar Games label and renamed Rockstar Lincoln.[24] In January 2011, Mark Lloyd, the long-time studio head of Rockstar Lincoln who had been with the company since 1999, announced his resignation.[23][25] His departure coincided with that of Mark Washbrook, the founder and former studio head of Rockstar London.[26][25] Rockstar Games stated that neither departure would affect the projects in development at the respective studios at the time.[25] Lloyd was succeeded by Tim Bates as general manager.[27] Lloyd went on to found a video game consultancy service, Titanium Consultancy, which he later voluntarily wound down. Together with Washbrook, he joined Activision's mobile-focused Activision Leeds studio in May 2012.[26]

Rockstar Lincoln offered its employees subsidised gym memberships, and hosted a "Sports & Social" team that organised sporting and leisure activities.[27] The studio won the "Active Workplace" award in the Lincolnshire Sports Awards in 2015 and 2016, and was nominated a third time in 2017.[27]

Leading up to the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 in October 2018, it was revealed that Rockstar Lincoln staff had, of all other Rockstar Games studios, suffered the worst "crunch time".[28] Both former employees and employees working at the studio at the time reported that testers were paid low wages, had to work long hours, and were subjected to strict security regulations.[28] Mandatory overtime for working on Red Dead Redemption 2 allegedly started in August 2017, prior to Rockstar Games entering "official crunch mode" that October.[28] Testers at Rockstar Lincoln were asked to work on evenings and weekends; initially, they would work three nights per week, and later five.[28] Of those working overtime, localisers and lead testers were paid annual salaries, and thus were not compensated for working additional hours.[28] Meanwhile, regular testers were paid by the hour and, depending on how long they worked, earned more than their leads.[28] In response to overtime reports, the studio's management announced in a meeting held on 19 October 2018 that overtime at the studio would from that point on be optional.[29] Following much public criticism of these practices, Rockstar Lincoln saw changes made to its policy. By 1 August 2019, all testers at the studio were to be converted to full-time employees, security measures were lowered in so far that cell phones could be used at the workplace, and a flexitime system was introduced.[30]

• Hewson, Andrew (9 May 2016). Hints & Tips for Videogame Pioneers (First ed.). Lulu.com. ISBN 9781844991365. Retrieved 16 December 2017.