The new trailer for GTA 6 has put Grand Theft Auto’s Dundee beginnings in the spotlight.
DMA Design developed the game in the City of Discovery more than a quarter of a century ago.
But the company’s future changed course in 1997 when it was bought by Gremlin Interactive, acquired by Infogrames two years later.
DMA stock was later purchased by Take-Two Interactive and in 2002 it was rebranded Rockstar North.
The gun-slinging hit – originally about a dinosaur on the rampage – remains a global phenomenon more than a quarter of a century after it whipped up moral panic in the House of Lords during a PR frenzy created by disgraced publicist Max Clifford, hired by DMA’s publisher BMG Interactive.
But what happened to the Dundee masterminds behind Grand Theft Auto?
David Jones – co-creator
DMA’s founder is now a creative fellow at Epic Games, the developers behind monster hit Fortnite who bought his company Cloudgine five years ago.
He was already extremely wealthy in his mid-20s before the release of Grand Theft Auto after creating Lemmings with Mike Dailly.
Lemmings went on to sell 20 million copies worldwide.
Jones – instrumental in setting up the world’s first degree in computer games at Abertay University in November 1997 – also founded Real Time Worlds in Dundee in 2002.
The firm created Crackdown, a game exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox console.
His success can be traced back to the day he took voluntary redundancy [a £3k cheque] from his job as an electronics engineer at Dundee’s Timex factory.
He bought an Amiga 1000 with the money, although his parents weren’t convinced it was the right move.
Jones says: “I said it was an investment in my future, but really, I wanted to play the newest games on it.”
Mike Dailly – co-creator
After leaving DMA Design in 1999, Dailly went on to join former colleague Russell Kay at Visual Science.
He then became the head of development at YoYo Games in 2012.
Mike is now a principle programmer for Sumo Digital and also runs Ogre Games, making games with an educational twist.
Last year, he claimed Rockstar Games issued copyright strikes against two videos he released showing prototype builds of the original Grand Theft Auto.
And Mike recently took aim at Rockstar following the release of the GTA 6 trailer.
He wrote on X: “Looks pretty, but the animations…bloody hell guys.
“Can’t you animate things properly? No one moves like that!”
This year the former St John’s High School pupil received the Lifetime Achievement award at the Scottish Games Awards.
Keith Hamilton – lead programmer
Originally from East Renfrewshire, Keith moved to Fife in 1990 just after DMA Design had completed work on Lemmings.
And a life-changing role in the City of Discovery was just around the corner.
He became the lead programmer for the first two GTA games, retaining that role when he left DMA Design for Real Time Worlds.
Keith joined Stainless Games in 2010, working as a technical director for their Carmaggedon: Reincarnation and Magic Duels: Origins games.
Since 2015, he has worked for Edinburgh-based Pufferfish Displays, where he is now head of software.
Keith, who lives in Newport-on-Tay, recently told us: “The new video [GTA 6 trailer] is really exciting.
“I sympathise with the team as it says that it will finally release in 2025.
“That means they’re going to be crunching and working really hard for more than a year.
“I remember what that was like, not particularly fondly.
“The pressure is exciting once you have an actual deadline, then it becomes serious because there’s money involved.”
Steve Hammond – writer
Steve was DMA founder David Jones’ first recruit.
After writing the screenplay for 1993’s Hired Guns, the Abertay University graduate was then tasked with delivering the script for the first GTA game.
Steve chose to go freelance following its release in a bid to help DMA’s American team – by then independent from the Dundee firm – write a remake of Hired Guns.
On his website he says: “Story of my life. GTA at the time was just another project, there was nothing in it which screamed that it would be a hit.
“In fact a lot of the time it looked to be shaping up to be a disaster. It wasn’t a project I had much passion about, unlike a new remake of Hired Guns.
“Either I had to give it up [Hired Guns] or go freelance to keep working on it. I chose freelance. Regretted it ever since.”
In a 2015 interview, Steve revealed he no longer works in the video game industry.
Two and a half years ago he hit out after a news outlet published an article headlined Grand Theft Auto creator Dan Houser forms new company ‘Absurd Ventures in Games’.
Houser is in fact the co-founder and former vice president of Rockstar.
Steve wrote on X: “Did Dan Houser create GTA? No he f***ing didn’t. Signed: the original GTA team.”
Russell Kay – programmer
Kay left DMA Design two years after the release of Lemmings to start his own company, Visual Science.
And in 1997 the firm developed a port to enable Grand Theft Auto to be played on Sony’s PlayStation console.
The company – which folded in 2006 – were also the first to develop a Formula 1 game for the PlayStation.
Kay went on to become senior software architect at Jones’ Real Time Worlds and later joined Mike Dailly at YoYo Games, holding the role of chief technology officer for more than 12 years.
He is now a senior product director at Opera, a software development company.
Jones, Dailly, Kay and Hammond met each other in 1984 at the Kingsway Amateur Computer Club, held at Kingsway Technical College.
Brian Baglow – writer and PR manager
Brian now works as a consultant for creative and digital technology organisations and also lectures at Edinburgh Napier University.
He was a key member of the DMA team behind the first GTA and later became an international PR manager for Rockstar Games in New York, working with disgraced publicist Max Clifford to ensure the spotlight was on the controversial series.
In a BBC Alba documentary last year, the Scottish Games Network founder recalled: “I was a writer and my first project was in the design team and they gave me this weird driving game, they didn’t know if it was going to work.
“You played a policeman, zooming around the city trying to arrest bad guys – and it was called Race’n’Chase.
“It wasn’t very good. It really wasn’t fun because if you’re a policeman and you’re going through a park, knocking strollers and pushchairs out the way and running over old people, you kind of have to be penalised in some way.
“So after several months of arguments and team meetings, and a couple of fist fights, we changed it so you played the bad guy and changed the name to Grand Theft Auto.
“And that’s gone on to do okay!”
Conversation