Take-Two, the company that owns both Rockstar and 2K Games, has purchased French facial animation studio Dynamixyz.
Dynamixyz has worked on games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and NBA 2K21, TV series like Love, Death & Robots, and blockbuster films like Avengers: Endgame. According to a Business Wire post, Dynamixyz will now "operate as a division of Take-Two and work exclusively with the company's publishing labels and studios." Dynamixyz, which is based in Cesson-Sévigné, France, owns and operates several "proprietary motion capture, facial-analysis and full 3D processing tools and technology", which is probably why the CGI in Endgame looked so dang good.
With Rockstar quietly working on GTA 6, it makes sense that the company would be looking to secure industry-leading facial animation software. With the improved graphics of new-gen consoles and the increasing demand for top-of-the-line GPUs like the NVIDIA RTX 3080, the next Rockstar game will need to have some seriously impressive facial animations. Since Rockstar's newest game - Red Dead Redemption 2 - is already three years old and GTA 5 is nearly a decade old, players are expecting some new-gen-worthy graphics in whatever Rockstar puts out next.
- GTA developer Rockstar opens new Australian branch by acquiring the studio that's been working on its ports for "this past decade"
- GTA 5 is "the standard-bearer for the industry over three generations," but GTA 6 publisher's CEO isn't taking that for granted: "We don't claim success until it occurs"
"Dynamixyz's revolutionary facial analysis technology and services is a highly complementary and strategic addition to Take-Two's world-class publishing and development structure," said Take-Two's executive vice president and head of strategy and independent publishing, Michael Worosz. With NBA 2K22 likely releasing this September, you can bet 2K will be taking full advantage of its parent company owning Dynamixyz's facial analysis tech.
Take-Two also owns Private Division, the publisher behind The Outer Worlds, Kerbal Space Program, and Ancestors. The Outer Worlds 2 will not be published by Private Division, however, so don't expect Dynamixyz technology to be used in the development of that sequel - Microsoft has officially taken over publishing for future iterations of The Outer Worlds.
Rockstar has been very quiet about production on GTA 6, but this purchase certainly seems like the studio is ready to ramp up development. Whatever Take-Two's companies are working on, expect them to look damn good thanks to this Dynamixyz purchase.
The latest rumor is that GTA 6 will take place in modern-day Vice City, but it may not launch until 2025.
