Developer whose work included GTA and Red Dead Redemption was 51 years old
Gordon Hall, founder of Rockstar Leeds, developer of GTA Chinatown Wars, died.
The news comes from several figures on the Yorkshire development scene, where he was largely based.
Hall’s gaming career began with the founding of Möbius Entertainment in 1997, which produced a variety of titles for Game Boy and Game Boy Advance. After working on the GBA version of Max Payne, Rockstar Games acquired the studio and renamed it Rockstar Leeds.
Under Hall, the developer worked with other Rockstar teams to create titles like Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and GTA: Chinatown Wars. Hall even worked at Rockstar San Diego in 2009, where he contributed to the development of Red Dead Redemption.
Between 2011 and 2013, he took a gap year to further research the player’s psychology and microtransaction strategy, returning to games as creative director at Activision Blizzard Mobile.
“Gordon was just brilliant, incredibly motivating and always positive,” said Martyn Brown, business development at Five Aces Publishing and co-founder of Team17.
“His quest for excellence was impressive and he formed a great bond of trust with those who chose to work (a lot) alongside him. As a close friend, he was truly inspiring and socially speaking, a unique and energetic person who could have fun without stop a hat from falling, holding everyone in the palm of your hand. Gordon will be sorely missed. “
Hall leaves his son James.