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{{Short description|Indian video game developer}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Dhruva Interactive
| logo =
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| industry = [[Video game industry|Video games]]
| fate = Merged into [[Rockstar India]]
| founded = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1997|03|15}}
| founder = Rajesh Rao
| defunct = {{End date|df=yes|2019|05|22}}
| hq_location_city = [[Bangalore]]
| hq_location_country = India
| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|Rajesh Rao ([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])|Ajit Pillai ([[Chief financial officer|CFO]])}}
| num_employees = 300
| num_employees_year = 2019
| parent = {{Unbulleted list|class=nowrap|[[Starbreeze Studios]] (2017–2019)|[[Rockstar Games]] (2019)}}
| website =
}}

'''Dhruva Interactive''' was an Indian [[video game developer]] based in [[Bangalore]]. Rajesh Rao founded the company in March 1997 out of the multimedia company he had established two years earlier. [[Starbreeze Studios]] acquired a [[Controlling interest|majority holding]] in Dhruva Interactive in 2017, which it sold to [[Rockstar Games]] in May 2019. With the latter sale, Dhruva Interactive was merged into [[Rockstar India]], Rockstar Games' studio in Bangalore.

== History ==
Dhruva Interactive was founded by programmer Rajesh Rao. While he was an engineering student, he created a multimedia engine for the final assignment in his multimedia course, which he intended to use to establish a multimedia company.<ref name="VentureBeat: bullish" /> Having previously lived and worked in Europe, he decided to form his company in his native India. Using [[seed money]] from his father, Rao obtained a bank loan to purchase a computer and a 14.4 [[Kilobit per second|kbps]] [[modem]], and founded his company in [[Bangalore]] on 15 March 1995 as a one-person operation. By 1997, the company had grown to five people.<ref name="The World Is Flat" /> In February of that year, [[Intel]] approached Rao's company to develop a rendering engine for the manufacturer's new [[Pentium II]] chip. Rao described the signing of their contract in March 1997 as the end of "Dhruva 1.0" and the start of "Dhruva 2.0", the company's transition to a video game company.<ref name="VentureBeat: bullish" /><ref name="The World Is Flat" /> He formally founded Dhruva Interactive on 15 March 1997, making it the first in India.<ref name="VentureBeat: bullish" /><ref name="GIbiz: Pioneer" /><ref name="VentureBeat: coming of age" /> "Dhruva" is the [[Sanskrit]] word for the [[North Star]], "the star that shows the way", according to Rao.<ref name="GIbiz: Pioneer" />

The company signed its first game development contract with [[Infogrames]] on 28 November 1998. Despite what Rao described as a "great job", the game was never released. Afterwards, Rao found that fully developing games as Dhruva Interactive's sole operation was not sustainable. The company transitioned to an [[outsourcing]] company. the end of "Dhruva 2.0" and the start of "Dhruva 3.0". In the search for clients in the United States and Europe, Dhruva Interactive released the [[game demo]] ''Saloon'' in March 2001. The company intentionally used a [[Wild West]] setting to appeal to the target Western audience. As the team had never seen a [[Western saloon|saloon]] before, they sought references via the emerging [[Google Search]], a technique they would continue to employ to understand certain parts of Western culture.<ref name="The World Is Flat" />

In December 2016, the Swedish video game company [[Starbreeze Studios]] announced that it had acquired a 90.5% stake in Dhruva for {{US$|7 million}} in cash and {{US$|1.5 million|long=no}} of its [[stock]], with an [[earn-out]] agreement of {{US$|800,000|long=no}}. At the time, Dhruva had 320 employees in three studios: two in Bangalore and one in [[Dehradun]].<ref name="VentureBeat: Starbreeze" /> The completion of the acquisition was delayed into 2017 due to regulatory issues in India and complete on 28 August.<ref name="VentureBeat: bullish" /><ref name="Starbreeze: Starbreeze" /> In May 2019, a financially stricken Starbreeze agreed to sell its stake in Dhruva Interactive, now at 91.82%, to the American publisher [[Rockstar Games]] for {{US$|7.9 million|long=no}}.<ref name="GIbiz: Rockstar" /> Once the deal would close, which was expected to happen in early 2019, the studio's 300 employees would join [[Rockstar India]], Rockstar Games's existing studio in Bangalore.<ref name="GIbiz: Rockstar" /><ref name="GameZone: Rockstar" /> The sale was completed on 22 May.<ref name="Starbreeze: Rockstar" />

== References ==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name="GameZone: Rockstar">{{cite web |url=https://www.gamezone.com/news/rockstar-games-acquires-indian-studio-dhruva-interactive/ |title=Rockstar Games acquires Indian studio Dhruva Interactive |first=Cade |last=Onder |date=14 May 2019 |website=GameZone |access-date=15 September 2019 |archive-date=14 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514113642/https://www.gamezone.com/news/rockstar-games-acquires-indian-studio-dhruva-interactive/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="GIbiz: Pioneer">{{cite web |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-10-23-you-pay-a-heavy-price-for-being-a-pioneer-thats-the-way-it-is |title="You pay a heavy price for being a pioneer" |first=Matthew |last=Handrahan |date=23 October 2015 |website=[[GamesIndustry.biz]] |access-date=15 September 2019 |archive-date=19 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190519120637/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-10-23-you-pay-a-heavy-price-for-being-a-pioneer-thats-the-way-it-is |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="GIbiz: Rockstar">{{cite web |url=https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-05-13-rockstar-acquires-dhruva-from-starbreeze-for-usd7-9m |title=Rockstar acquires Dhruva Interactive from Starbreeze for $7.9m |first=Rebekah |last=Valentine |date=13 May 2019 |work=[[GamesIndustry.biz]] |access-date=13 May 2019 |archive-date=13 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513194338/https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2019-05-13-rockstar-acquires-dhruva-from-starbreeze-for-usd7-9m |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="Starbreeze: Rockstar">{{cite press release |url=https://www.starbreeze.com/2019/05/starbreeze-has-closed-the-transaction-of-indian-subsidiary-dhruva/ |title=Starbreeze has closed the transaction of Indian subsidiary Dhruva |publisher=[[Starbreeze Studios]] |date=22 May 2019 |access-date=15 September 2019 |archive-date=7 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190707232628/https://www.starbreeze.com/2019/05/starbreeze-has-closed-the-transaction-of-indian-subsidiary-dhruva/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="Starbreeze: Starbreeze">{{cite press release |url=https://www.starbreeze.com/2017/08/starbreeze-completes-dhruva-interactive-acquisition/ |title=Starbreeze completes Dhruva Interactive acquisition |publisher=[[Starbreeze Studios]] |date=28 August 2017 |access-date=8 July 2022 |archive-date=8 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708142633/https://www.starbreeze.com/2017/08/starbreeze-completes-dhruva-interactive-acquisition/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>

<ref name="The World Is Flat">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oSsIfoDQHhgC |title=The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century |first=Thomas |last=Friedman |author-link=Thomas Friedman |year=2007 |publisher=[[Picador (imprint)|Picador]] |isbn=9781429923071 |chapter=The Triple Convergence |pages=217–223 |via=[[Google Books]] |access-date=8 July 2022}}</ref>

<ref name="VentureBeat: bullish">{{cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/2017/03/09/dhruvas-rajesh-rao-is-still-bullish-on-indias-game-market-after-two-decades/ |title=Dhruva's Rajesh Rao is still bullish on India's game market — after two decades |first=Dean |last=Takahashi |date=9 March 2017 |website=[[VentureBeat]] |access-date=17 November 2018 |archive-date=17 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117193139/https://venturebeat.com/2017/03/09/dhruvas-rajesh-rao-is-still-bullish-on-indias-game-market-after-two-decades/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="VentureBeat: coming of age">{{cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/2014/03/30/dhruva-ceo-explains-how-indias-game-industry-is-coming-of-age-interview/ |title=Dhruva CEO explains how India's game industry is coming of age (interview) |first=Dean |last=Takahashi |date=30 March 2014 |website=[[VentureBeat]] |access-date=17 November 2018 |archive-date=17 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117193450/https://venturebeat.com/2014/03/30/dhruva-ceo-explains-how-indias-game-industry-is-coming-of-age-interview/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

<ref name="VentureBeat: Starbreeze">{{cite web |url=https://venturebeat.com/2016/12/18/swedens-starbreeze-buys-indias-video-game-studio-dhruva-interactive/ |title=Sweden's Starbreeze buys Indian video game studio Dhruva Interactive |first=Dean |last=Takahashi |date=18 December 2016 |website=[[VentureBeat]] |access-date=30 August 2017 |archive-date=6 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906134943/https://venturebeat.com/2016/12/18/swedens-starbreeze-buys-indias-video-game-studio-dhruva-interactive/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

}}

{{Take-Two Interactive}}

[[Category:1997 establishments in Karnataka]]
[[Category:2016 mergers and acquisitions]]
[[Category:Companies based in Bengaluru]]
[[Category:Defunct video game companies of India]]
[[Category:Indian companies disestablished in 2019]]
[[Category:Indian companies established in 1997]]
[[Category:Indian subsidiaries of foreign companies]]
[[Category:Rockstar Games subsidiaries]]
[[Category:Take-Two Interactive divisions and subsidiaries]]
[[Category:Video game companies disestablished in 2019]]
[[Category:Video game companies established in 1997]]
[[Category:Video game development companies]]

Dhruva Interactive - Revision history

SAWANTRAJ: Made some data more to come...