Rockstar Productions GmbH (trade name: Rockstar Vienna; formerly Neo Software Produktions GmbH) was an Austrian video game developer and a studio of Rockstar Games based in Vienna. Peter Baustädter, Niki Laber, and Hannes Seifert founded the studio as Neo Software in January 1993 when they neared the completion of Whale's Voyage. The game led Neo Software to early success, as did 1994's The Clue!, which sold over a million copies, and enabled the company to relocate from Seifert's house in Hirtenberg to Vienna. After Neo Software's Alien Nations sold more than a million copies in 1999, Computec Media acquired a majority stake in the company, seeking it to produce online games. It then sold the studio and several other businesses to Gameplay.com in February 2000, which sold Neo Software to Take-Two Interactive in January 2001 in exchange for a Take-Two subsidiary Gameplay.com had obtained earlier. As part of Take-Two, Neo Software developed ports, starting with bringing Max Payne to the Xbox. The studio became part of Take-Two's Rockstar Games label in January 2003 as Rockstar Vienna, porting the label's Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne, Grand Theft Auto III, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City to consoles. The studio worked on Manhunt 2 from January 2004 until May 2006, when the company was abruptly closed in a cost reduction. Rockstar Vienna had become the largest developer in Austria by that time, and its disestablishment left 110 people out of work. Manhunt 2 was completed at Rockstar London, controversially omitting all Rockstar Vienna credits upon release. History Early years (1993–1999) Rockstar Vienna was founded as Neo Software by Peter Baustädter, Niki Laber, and Hannes Seifert. Laber and Seifert had met as freelancers at a computer school, where they quickly decided to work on video games. Seifert's 1989 game Der verlassene Planet was the first commercial video game release from Austria. After five years of independent work in the video game industry, Baustädter, Laber, and Seifert were nearing the completion of Whale's Voyage. While meeting at a coffeehouse near the Wien Westbahnhof railway station, they decided to create a company and consequently established Neo Software on 4 January 1993. Its offices were set up in Seifert's house in Hirtenberg, a small village south of Vienna, the Austrian capital. Laber and Seifert became the joint managing directors. Whale's Voyage was released as the company's first game in February 1993 by Flair